The prototype submission deadline is 5pm ET on January 19, 2026.
Eligibility
- All participants must be a current Penn State student (undergraduate or graduate). This includes all commonwealth campuses.
- Participants may serve on more than one team.
- All work must be original or properly credited. Plagiarism will result in disqualification.
- Teams must comply with all Penn State University and Nittany AI Alliance policies.
- Any external libraries, datasets, or APIs used must be properly documented and legally permissable for use.
Prizes
A group of independent judges will award up to 15 teams $300 each based on how they scored against the rubric. Prizes in this phase will be allocated to the team lead, via LionPath, for further distribution to team members. Teams will be responsible for determining the method of prize allocation to individual members.
Individuals will be responsible for any and all financial implications of the prize, including tax liability and impact to financial aid.
Judging Criteria and Winner Selection
The following criteria will be used in the selection process for the Prototype Phase of the Nittany AI Challenge. View the full rubric (PDF).
This phase will be judged by a group of individuals that will select teams to move forward into the MVP Phase based on ranking and overall score.
The reviewers may include a mix of:
- content or domain experts related to the challenges.
- technical experts flutent in AI/ML capabilities.
- industry representatives.
- previous Challenge participants (alumni).
- Penn State staff and decision makers.
Judges will review the video overviews and completed documentation and provide teams with feedback.