Engage your students in an immersive, real-world STEM challenge designed to spark curiosity and build future-ready skills.

Working in teams of 3–5, students will tackle a critical problem inspired by challenges the Australian Defence Industry often faces. They’ll learn through a curriculum-aligned, 8-step STEM engineering design process to explore cutting-edge technologies, think creatively, and develop practical solutions as they while build key skills in collaboration, problem-solving, systems thinking, and communication.

This challenge isn’t just about designing in the classroom: it’s about inspiring the next generation of innovators by connecting them to meaningful, future-focused STEM careers. The AVISTA Challenge is also fully curriculum linked (ACARA, NSW, Victoria and WA).

The team behind the AVISTA STEM Challenge are here to support you- reach out with your questions, suggestions or requests for help and we will be there every step of the way.

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Prizes

Students who complete the challenge can submit their solution for a chance to win a share of a $10,000 prize pool.

First Prize: $4,000

Second Prize: $2,000

Highly Commended: $1,000 (four teams)

The prize is split equally between the team and their school. The school receiving 50% of the prize and team members share the remaining 50% through gift vouchers from their choice of JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks, Dymocks or Lego.com.

A judging panel of AVISTA team members and Defence Industry representatives will assess the solution against submissions from students nationwide.

The design of the AVISTA STEM challenge is flexible so that you can tailor the program to suit your students, your curriculum and your timetable. We suggest the program will take approximately 10 lessons, although some teams may accomplish it in less time.

The program includes free access to a range of professional learning activities, classroom resources and supplementary lesson ideas that can be tailored to suit your circumstances and your students’ enrich their learning experiences.

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Implement the AVISTA Challenge

Wondering how to implement the AVISTA challenge into your teaching program?

You can use the AVISTA STEM challenge with any group of students from years 7-10. The flexibility of the challenge means that you can run the program at your own pace, such as: once a week, after school, at lunch times or in a block of consecutive lessons. Your school may choose to run the challenge across multiple classes. Consider the following cohorts in your school:

STEM club;
A timetabled science class;
A timetabled technologies class;
Cross curricular (a collaboration between science, technologies and HASS classes);
As an elective;
In homeroom;
A selected (or self-nominated) group of students with a mentor teacher- consider bringing the group together at different times each week to minimize the disruption to other classes.

Curriculum Links

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Teacher Professional Learning

The AVISTA Challenge also has a comprehensive Professional Learning Program for teachers to learn more about engaging their students and deepening their understanding of career pathways in the Defence Industry.

Learn More

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Begin the Challenge: Introduction

Start your AVISTA STEM Challenge here!

In the “Introduction” stage, you’ll be briefed as part of Australia’s Defence Industry Rapid Response STEM Taskforce. Your team will explore a real-world problem and prepare to tackle a critical mission using the 8-step iSTEM engineering design process. This is where you lay the groundwork for your journey ahead.

0. Introduction

Register for the AVISTA Challenge

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