$ csh --init fall_2026_design_competition
Fall 2026 Design Competition
Build. Pitch. Launch.
// 01 — the challenge
Your team will identify a real problem in our community — inside Comp Sci High or out in the Bronx — and build a working app that helps solve it. You'll use AI tools to move at startup speed, and at the end of the week you'll pitch your product live to judges like founders pitching investors.
REQ_01
Your app must help solve or address a real problem in the community — your school or the Bronx. Real users, real stakes. If it doesn't help somebody, it doesn't count.
REQ_02
Ship a minimum viable product built with AI tools. Not a mockup, not a slide — working software people can actually touch. Every AI tool you use must be disclosed in your submission.
REQ_03
Pitch your product live like you're raising a round: the problem, the community it serves, the product, the ask. No video required for our week — winners film the official CAC demo video afterward.
→ This competition feeds directly into the 2026 Congressional App Challenge — the official app competition of the U.S. House of Representatives. Winning teams' apps will be submitted before the national deadline: Monday, October 26, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT.
→ Need inspiration? See what last year's New York winners built ↗ — real apps, built by students, that won their districts.
// 02 — your team
Teams of up to four, and every member owns a job. Small teams ship — yours will run like an early-stage startup for one week.
// the operator
Owns the problem statement and the plan. Keeps the team scoped, on schedule, and honest about what ships by Friday.
// the architect
Owns the user experience — who it's for, how it flows, why it's obvious to use. Turns a community problem into screens that make sense.
// the builder
Owns the build. Drives the AI tools, wires the pieces together, and makes sure there's a working MVP on demo day — not a demo of excuses.
// the closer
Owns the story. Writes and fronts the live pitch, runs pitch practice, and sells the vision to the judges in the Pit on Friday.
// 03 — competition week
Five days from blank page to judged product. Workshops teach the skill right before you need it; team time is where the work gets done.
// 04 — workshops
Seven workshops, sequenced to hit right before each phase of the build. Materials drop here as each deck lands — anything marked // soon is on its way.
Monday · Community-centered design: understand the challenge, then find a problem worth solving — and the people it matters to.
Monday · From fifty bad ideas to one great one, fast — and a topic your whole team wants to build.
Monday · When AI is the right tool, when it isn't — and how to use it with judgment.
Tuesday · Two tracks, two teammates each: AI-to-wireframe and AI-to-build. Split up, learn both, bring it back.
Tuesday · Group coding, full team together — iterate, debug, get the MVP standing.
Wednesday · Title, purpose, inspiration, the hard problem you cracked, what you learned, what's next — the story judges want.
Thursday · Pitch across grade bands, get scored, tighten the story before advisory finals.
// 05 — the rules
We run on the official 2026 Congressional App Challenge rulebook, plus three house rules that make this competition ours. The highlights:
// 06 — deliverables
A working, AI-built minimum viable product that addresses your community problem. Judges can ask to see it run — and the source behind it.
A founder-style pitch, delivered live: the problem, the community it serves, the product, and the ask — plus the six things the CAC wants to hear: title, purpose, inspiration, the technical difficulty you faced, what you learned, and what a 2.0 looks like. Built in Workshop 6, rehearsed Thursday, judged in the Pit on Friday.
The CAC submission questions: what your app does, what inspired it, the technical challenge you overcame, what you learned, and what a 2.0 would look like. They're the backbone of your pitch — write them first.
Not required to compete. If your team wins and advances to the Congressional App Challenge, you'll film the official 1–3 minute demo video after competition week — names, app name, purpose, audience, tools, and the app actually running — public on YouTube or Vimeo, before Oct 26.
// 07 — judging & prizes
Thursday's advisory finals send one team per advisory to the Pit. On Friday, finalists pitch live to real engineers, founders, and community leaders — 11/12 at 9:45, 9/10 at 11:20 — and winners are announced over the loudspeaker at 12:50. Judges score three things — the full rubric is linked below:
/idea
Creativity, originality, and how squarely it hits a real community problem.
/build
User experience and design — does the MVP feel like a product, not a project?
/skill
Demonstrated coding and programming skill — including how intelligently you drove your AI tools.
// every team that reaches the Pit
// the winning teams