Students from Uxbridge College have turned a competition victory into a two‑week educational tour of the United States after being named winners of the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) 2026 colleges category.
The trio – Shlok, Faithon and Xainaldo – received the award at a high‑profile ceremony earlier this year and travelled to the US in October.
Their itinerary began in Boston, where they toured the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, met leading researchers, and joined Watertown High School students for a design sprint. The group also attended the launch of The Collision: What AI Does to Us by Eric So and a talk by David Clay MBE, British Consul‑General to New England, before gaining insight into municipal governance at Boston City Hall.
The students then visited New York City, taking in iconic sites such as Times Square, Rockefeller Centre and the Statue of Liberty. The trip concluded in Washington DC, where they presented their NIC projects to an Amazon panel and received feedback to develop their innovations further.
The competition, organised by Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges (HRUC) in partnership with the MIT Industrial Liaison Programme, seeks to empower young people to address pressing global challenges.
For NIC 2027, secondary schools, colleges and sixth forms are invited to submit projects centred on the theme “Tomorrow’s World”. Winners will again travel to the United States, while all finalists are expected to attend the summer awards ceremony.
Yaseen Akhtar, Managing Director of the West London Institute of Technology, HRUC, said: “The NIC 2026 winners massively impressed the judges with their projects, and this trip allowed them to see just how far their ideas can take them. It offered an invaluable opportunity for them to network and talk about their projects, as well as enjoy sightseeing and exploring a different country. It’s a joy seeing how much a trip like this can change students’ perspectives on what’s possible.”
