The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) invites high school students from across the state to participate in this year's PennDOT Innovations Challenge, which encourages students to use their problem-solving, creative, and strategic thinking abilities to solve real-world transportation challenges in a competition among their peers. The Innovations Challenge is open to all students in grades nine through 12, regardless of their school's learning model.

For this year's challenge, students are asked to develop a concept for the use of artificial intelligence in work zones to dramatically improve safety for work crews and road users. The concept must outline how PennDOT can use smarter systems to prevent accidents and protect people. The concept should also take into consideration cost-benefit information, statewide deployment implications, and public outreach.

Regional Innovations Challenge winners will be selected and invited to present their solutions to the PennDOT secretary and a panel of judges, which will determine the statewide winner. For this year's challenge, PennDOT is partnering with several organizations to provide a monetary award to the statewide winning team. These organizations include the Transportation Policy and Education Foundation, an educational arm of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors (APC); the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania (ACEC/PA); the Mid-Atlantic Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (MASITE); and the Intelligent Transportation Society of Pennsylvania (ITSPA).

For complete details, visit http://www.penndot.gov/innovation and click on the Innovations Challenge link. The submission deadline is Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.