Four Grade 9 pupils from Tandem IMS have secured a place in the STEAM Challenge live final.
Two of them will take the stage to pitch their inclusive gardening concept.
They are the only female finalists competing against university pupils and business professionals.
The STEAM Challenge is a competition where teams and individuals pitch their ideas to a live audience and specialist jury.
The goal: to bring socially relevant and innovation driven ideas to the stage and find out who can win over the jury and the audience.
To qualify, projects must address a real social problem and reach at least prototype stage. The judging criteria cover:
The prize includes professional pitch coaching and media visibility before and after the event. The audience also votes, alongside the expert jury.
The live final takes place on 3 March 2026 at Spirgarten Zürich, hosted by Sara Taubman-Hildebrand. Three comedians – Gülsha Adilji, Reena Krishnaraja, and Zukkihund – keep the energy high between pitches. The jury consists of AI expert Dalith Steiger, digital ethics expert Nathalie Klauser, and entrepreneurship professional Raphael Tobler.
The project started in the design studio at Tandem IMS. Working with a brief from “Inspired by Industry”, a programme by The Design & Technology Association, the pupils were asked to design a product that makes gardening more inclusive, specifically for seniors, people with limited motor function, and others who face physical barriers when working in a garden.
It is a challenge with real social weight. And shortly after starting their design project, four pupils had something worth pitching.
When the competition was announced just two weeks before Christmas, the pupils had a straightforward choice: submit under pressure, or let the opportunity pass.
They submitted. All four entries were commended. Two were invited to present as a team at the live final. That result is worth sitting with.
The Tandem IMS pupils are the only female finalists in this year's STEAM Challenge.
Representation and confidence are not built in the classroom alone but by showing up in spaces where it is not yet the norm. These pupils are doing exactly that. And whether they think of it this way or not, standing on that stage carries a role model function: for younger pupils at Tandem IMS, and for others who might one day wonder if this kind of opportunity is for them too.
At Tandem IMS, creativity and problem solving are treated as skills pupils can genuinely develop and use, not as a checklist to be completed. Pupils learn to identify real problems, prototype solutions, and communicate their ideas confidently. That approach means adapting in real time, including pivoting toward live projects as opportunities arise.
The STEAM Challenge arrived with a tight deadline and no guarantees. That is precisely the kind of condition that reveals whether design thinking is actually there when it counts.
The pupils' commendations suggest it is.
The professional pitch coaching that came with their commendation was, for these pupils, the real prize. Learning to present, to handle questions, and to sharpen an idea under expert guidance is the kind of experience that stays with you.
But what lies ahead is something equally rare: a stage, a live audience, and the chance to put a concept that genuinely matters in front of people beyond the classroom. Inclusive design rarely gets this kind of public platform. The pupils are looking forward to sharing their work on a public stage, gaining visibility, and experiencing the atmosphere of a live audience.
That does not come around often at fourteen.
The live STEAM Challenge final takes place on 3 March 2026, 19:00–21:00 at Spirgarten Zürich. Discounted tickets are available for pupils here.