Teen Engineers from Silicon Valley Among Top 15 Semifinalists in worldwide $11M XPRIZE Wildfire

Facing off against the world's best, the Valley Christian High School team is tackling one of the planet's greatest challenges—rapid wildfire response.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In a groundbreaking achievement for youth-driven innovation, Valley Christian High School (VCS) in San Jose, CA has advanced to the semifinals in the $11M XPRIZE Wildfire competition's Autonomous Wildfire Response track, making it the only high school team in the world to rank among the Top 15 semifinalists.

Competing as Wildfire Quest, these Silicon Valley student innovators are going head-to-head with leading university researchers, private companies, and international technology developers to build fully autonomous systems capable of detecting and extinguishing wildfires in under 10 minutes, a feat that could redefine how the world combats destructive wildfires.

Youth vs. Wildfire: A Global Race for Innovation

This milestone builds on Team Wildfire Quest's earlier success, when they became the only high school team to reach the Top 30 and received a $25,000 award during the Technical Verification round. With their advancement to the semifinals, they now prepare for real-world field testing of their system this fall.

"The numerous industry connection opportunities have been invaluable to our team's growth and understanding of existing solutions to fight wildfires, allowing us to pinpoint problems in firefighting (such as early response and active monitoring)," said Omkar Tasgaonkar, a recent Valley Christian graduate and Wildfire Quest project lead. "I look forward to the future growth and success of this team in making our solution a reality, deploying it in areas with high risk of fire, and stopping fires at the earliest stage."

About XPRIZE Wildfire

XPRIZE Wildfire challenges teams to develop autonomous wildfire response systems that can detect, assess, and suppress an incipient-stage, high-risk wildfire across a 1,000 km² area, all without human intervention and while ignoring decoy fires to prove precision and not just speed. XPRIZE aims to revolutionize wildfire response by combining AI, robotics, and advanced sensing technologies to react faster than any human crew could ever achieve.

XPRIZE has described the challenge as an urgent global call to action: destructive wildfires now burn millions of acres annually, displace entire communities, and accelerate climate change. By harnessing AI and robotics, the competition aims to revolutionize wildfire response through speed, precision, and autonomy.

About the AMSE Institute

The AMSE Institute at Valley Christian Schools (San Jose, CA) empowers students to explore and excel in STEM through hands-on research, real-world applications, and cutting-edge innovation. From space exploration to environmental technology, AMSE supports K–12 students in becoming tomorrow's science and engineering leaders. Learn more at vcs.net/amse.

About Valley Christian Schools

Valley Christian Schools offers a college-preparatory education grounded in faith, excellence, and purpose for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, VCS combines rigorous academics with Christ-centered values to prepare students to lead, serve, and make a lasting impact. For more information, visit vcs.net.

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SOURCE Valley Christian Schools