STEM Connect links students across cities so a project stuck in one classroom can find the exact collaborator it's missing — before anyone gives up looking.
"I couldn't find anyone outside my own school working on anything close to what I was doing — and I had no way to even look." — The problem that started Team Kappa's build
Built out in Prototype Hub and Code Hub as a functioning platform — not a slide describing what it would do.
Students post what they're building, what stage it's at, and what kind of collaborator would move it forward.
Suggests potential partners across cities based on project overlap and complementary skills — surfacing collaborators a student would never have found on their own.
Once matched, teams get a shared space with built-in communication tools to actually work together.
Live in this prototypeTeachers help students connect, guide the collaboration, and make sure the final project still meets real learning goals — the platform doesn't replace that role, it gives it a wider reach.
Low participation. A network with three schools and few active projects doesn't feel like a network — it feels empty, and empty platforms don't get a second visit.
Launch small and active rather than broad and quiet: a handful of engaged schools first, real matches happening from day one, then expand city by city as word spreads.
STEM Connect doesn't need scale to prove itself — it needs three schools with real projects and students willing to look outside their own building.