xFoundry

Impact

Report

2025

Our mission is to turn every university into a solution engine.  A place where students use cutting-edge tools, mentorship, and entrepreneurship competitions to launch scalable ventures that solve the world’s toughest problems.

To Our Community,

‍If I had to describe the 2025 year in a single word, it would be momentum.

When we launched xFoundry last year, we set out to prove that extraordinary things happen when students from every discipline unite to take on humanity’s grand challenges. This year, that vision came to life. We witnessed ideas turn into ventures, learners turn into leaders, and an emerging community turn into a movement.

The accomplishments of our community have been remarkable. We completed our inaugural Xperience Competition focused on School Safety and crowned Team DefenX as our first winner. We are now preparing them to launch a venture built around their solution, supported by a $250,000 investment. Watching these students evolve from classmates into founders has been among the most inspiring moments of our journey.

And the momentum didn’t stop there.

We reached for new heights: We co-hosted NEXPLORE 2040 with NASA at the new Amazon HQ2 building in Arlington, VA. This brought new energy into our ecosystem, welcoming partners like Intel and Oura, and expanding our network of experts and universities.

We grew: We welcomed four new university members, our Xpert network grew with over one hundred new experts and mentors, and secured over $700K to accelerate student innovation. We also expanded our facilities by opening the new Intel Edge AI Lab within the ALEx Garage, dedicated to building models and systems.

We stayed the course: Our Crossfire team continued its impressive trajectory, advancing to the semifinal stage of the $11M XPRIZE Wildfire Competition among hundreds of international teams.

We evolved: We’ve made it easier than ever for students and universities to become a part of xFoundry. By digitizing our curriculum and making it asynchronous, students across the country can access our multidisciplinary training, regardless of schedule or location.

We looked ahead: Our second Xperience Competition is already underway, this time targeting a new grand challenge: Mental Health. More than 190 students have already registered, with participation expected to grow substantially before the close of registration in March 2026.

So, where are we heading? As we prepare to spin out xFoundry as an independent nonprofit, our mission remains unchanged. We were founded by, launched from, and proudly rooted in the University of Maryland. Now we are ready to scale our model nationwide, lowering barriers for universities to join us and unlocking the brilliance of even more students.

We will stay multidisciplinary. We will continue breaking silos. We will keep solving grand challenges, because the future demands nothing less.

Let’s get to work.

Amir Ansari

Founder and Executive Director, xFoundry Alliance

Co-Founder and Executive Director, IDEA Factory, University of Maryland

In Gratitude to the generosity, belief, and tireless support of the sponsors, partners, University of Maryland leaders, mentors, and students.

Key metrics
of 2025

This past year, xFoundry made waves. We brought together students and experts from dozens of disciplines and industries: engineers, designers, business minds, technologists, all ready to build. Give talented people the right tools and environment, and they don't just participate, they transform. They tackle real problems and drive the kind of change that lasts.

This annual report shows how xFoundry connects students, mentors, and industry professionals to build intelligent systems, secure seed funding, share expertise, and give students direct access to leaders in their fields.

794

Students participated

+

$

700

K

in sponsorship, donation, and equipment

5

university members

50

Degree programs

6

sponsors

27

partners

31%

Graduate

68%

Undergraduate

1%

Ph.D.

A year of events

35

Events

879

Attendees

4

University of Maryland athletic games

2

Panels

1

Conference

9

Info sessions

19

Mixers

The word is getting out!

This year, xFoundry caught the attention of major media outlets with features highlighting the groundbreaking work our students are building.

UMD students use AI to detect weapons in schools

For students born after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, active shooter drills have become a routine part of growing up.
Read post

UMD students create firefighting drone as part of contest to end destructive wildfires

The team of engineers designed a flying firefighter, a drone that can both detect and suppress wildfires before they get out of control.
Read post

Student Entrepreneurs Win $250K to Develop Tech to Detect Guns, Track Suspects in Schools

DefenX’s win was announced during a gathering of investors, panelists and UMD stakeholders, at NEXPLORE 2040 future technology summit.
Read post

Growing our Xpert network

Our Xpert family grew to include local, national, and global leaders, all eager to mentor student teams, advise on challenge topics, and advocate for our mission.

4

new University Members

This year, four new universities joined the xFoundry Alliance. They came ready to give students hands-on, real-world experience and prepare them for what's actually coming in tech.

6

founding members of the Pioneer Circle

These are the people who showed up when it mattered most, championed xFoundry at critical moments, and helped push our mission forward when we needed it.

Stacey Shulman
Intel
Dean Chang
"University of Maryland, College Park"
Emilio Fernandez
E.A. Fernandez IDEA Factory
Christyl Johnson
NASA
Abe Minkara
Legacy Knight
Paul Kim
know.capital
Everyone talks about experiential learning, but very few know what it actually means. xFoundry is the best example I’ve seen of how to execute it at scale.
paul kim
Founder, KNOW.CAPITAL
These are the kind of minds that we need to bring together because in order for us to innovate, it really takes people that are accustomed to thinking outside the box.
Christyl Johnson, Ph.D.
Deputy Associate Administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA

4

new Xperts join student support team

Our mentor family grew to 19 Xperts who work directly with student teams through feedback sessions, office hours, guest lectures, and field interviews.

Juliana C. Neelbauer
Fox Rothschild LLP
Vikram Manikonda
University of Maryland
Darrell McGraw
Consulting Solutions
Brendan McNelly
JHU/APL

Students saving students:

Winning the School Safety Xperience Competition

In September 2025, two finalist teams presented AI-powered solutions to detect and respond to active shooter threats in schools. The challenge focused on technology that uses existing infrastructure to identify firearms in real-time, track threats, and instantly alert staff and law enforcement.

90

student competitors

$

250

K

Investment secured

13

multidisciplinary teams

27

Program degrees presented

And the winner is...

Team DefenX

From University of Maryland

When we started this project, we didn't know what we were diving into, but it's been a great process learning together and actually being able to build something of impact. Winning this competition would essentially give us the fundamental resources we need to bring our solution to life. We've done a lot of testing, but being able to actually get the funds to create something and use it in actual schools would make such a difference.

Media highlights

UMD students awarded $250,000 for school shooting detection AI tool

Student team eyes multimodal expansion beyond gun detection to falls, fights and medical emergencies.
Read post

UMD CS Majors Develop AI System to Improve School Safety

Student team DefenX uses existing cameras to detect guns in seconds and aid post-incident recovery.
Read post

UMD’s XFoundry School Safety Grand Challenge Won by Team DefenX

CATS2 celebrates DefenX's $250,000 win for AI school security technology.
Read post
This qualifies, undoubtedly, as a grand challenge of our time. And I'm proud to see that the inaugural Xperience Competition is tackling this problem.
Jennifer Rice, Ph.D.
Provost, University of Maryland, College Park
xFoundry gave me a comprehensive understanding of startup development. I had never gone up to strangers to interview them before, but this program gave me the confidence, knowledge, and structure to create something that can truly have an impact.
Srinidhi Gubba
Xperience Competition Winner
In school, kids mostly learn how not to fail. In the real world, you learn by trying new things, making mistakes, learning from them, and moving on. We give kids problems for which there is no answer in the back of the book. They learn to work with limited time, limited resources, and real uncertainty, just like the real world
Dean Kamen
Founder, FIRST Robotics
we wanted to bring folks from different disciplines, in the concept of xFoundry, and to have what we call disruptive collisions when different disciplines interact with each other and bring all of their creativity to solve a problem. xFoundry is the embodiment of that.
Darryll Pines, Ph.D.
President, University of Maryland
Participating in multidisciplinary efforts like xFoundry will enhance our ability to truly embody and pursue the goals of our community.
Kimberly Griffin, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Education, University of Maryland

NEXPLORE
2040

What did we NEXPLORE?

In September 2025, xFoundry partnered with NASA to host NEXPLORE 2040, a three-day summit that united industry leaders, researchers, investors, and government representatives to address critical technology gaps in deep space exploration.

Through keynotes, panels, demonstrations, and collaborative working groups, the summit focused on accelerating humanity's path toward a sustained lunar presence by 2040 and eventual Mars missions. The event inspired concrete pathways to overcome the technical challenges standing between today's capabilities and tomorrow's boldest exploration objectives.

336

attendees

3

Days

55

speakers

Dean Kamen

Segway inventor and FIRST Robotics founder Dean Kamen opened day two with a keynote on high-tech health, showcasing student-driven innovations shaping the future of medicine on Earth and beyond.

Horizons Rumble

Finalist teams received fast-paced feedback from summit attendees before their final pitches.

Building AI Beyond Earth

Autonomous AI and edge computing are solving Earth's urgent challenges today while enabling humanity's interplanetary future by 2040.

NASA Fireside Chat

Bold missions, new technologies, and cross-sector collaboration are shaping space exploration toward 2040, guiding humanity’s return to the Moon and first steps toward Mars.

Medicine Without Limits

What will healthcare look like when autonomy meets intelligence?

Peter Kreiner

Noma co-owner Peter Kreiner shared how Noma’s shift from a renowned restaurant to a food laboratory fueled curiosity and collaboration among creatives across industries, shaping the menu of the future.

Peak Human Performance

Emerging tech is redefining human and machine performance, driving sustainable innovation.

Andy Walshe

Andy spoke about how creativity and resilience fuel space innovation.

Are you ready to RUMBLE?

During NEXPLORE Rumble, Horizons challenge finalists pitched their problem statements to industry professionals in speed-dating style, receiving feedback from dozens of experts on how to refine their ideas for a chance to win the challenge and set the topic for the next Xperience competition.

And the winner is...

Team Innersolace

From Rutgers University

After pitching at both Rumble and the NEXPLORE main stage, Team Innersolace from Rutgers University emerged victorious with the strongest problem statement. One with the potential to generate million-dollar solutions, earning the right to set mental health as the focus for the 2027 Xperience competition.

NEXPLORE 2040 was one of the best conferences I’ve been to. It’s so inspiring to see how invested you are in our youth and the future of space exploration.
Chanel Fischetti
Committee Chair, OSMED
Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine Doctor
Brilliant minds were all around. The energy you created with such an eclectic group of presenters and attendees was electric and inspiring.
Amber Coyne
Healthcare and Science Industry Specialist, SUNY Binghamton University
You have some incredibly talented students in your program who did not shy away from the complexity of the challenges they were presented with. I was very impressed by their pitches.
Lee Anderson
Manager at Ignition Lab Delivery, KPMG

Our new partners

NEXPLORE expanded our network of partners, bringing enthusiastic and engaged leadership from titans spanning private industry, the public sector, and the VC community. They joined us as speakers, sponsors, ambassadors, investors, challenge advisors, and generous connectors at NEXPLORE, joining our mission to turn universities into solution engines through deep, real-world connection between student solutions and global grand challenges.

Nasa

Abb

Formula E

Noma

KPMG

Catalytic Impact Foundation

Axiom

Microsoft

amazon

vast space

José Andrés Group

Ernst & Young

phillips

palantir

Liminal Collective

Andromeda Ventures

Mia AI

August Interactive

We partnered with

NASA

This past year, we went big with our NEXPLORE summit. NASA partnered with xFoundry to host NEXPLORE 2040 and launch our first Horizons Challenge. NASA’s Artemis Program has identified 187 technology shortfalls that need to be solved before moving humanity to the Moon, and they looked to xFoundry to engage the next generation of innovators. 

Together, with university students and the NEXPLORE 2040 audience, we took that list and identified the ones that can help society today and eventually help get us to the Moon. The problems chosen through the Horizons Challenge become the solutions generated through our Xperience Competition. 

And this is only the beginning! We are already expanding our partnership and maintaining ongoing collaboration with NASA leadership, knowing that the small steps we take today will lead to giant leaps tomorrow.

So... what did we NEXPLORE?

To see more highlights, please visit our YouTube channel.

xFoundry Youtube

XPRIZE Wildfire competition semifinalists

Team Crossfire

From University of Maryland

Detection. Evaluation. Suppression.
All autonomously, in less than 10 minutes.
‍
Team Crossfire is currently a semifinalist in the $5M XPRIZE Wildfire Competition. They are leveraging the University of Maryland's strengths in fire protection, aerospace, robotics, and computer science to develop an autonomous wildfire mitigation system.

8

experts

$

325

K

total capital

13

Student team members

Building EmberShield

UMD’s Crossfire team has created an end-to-end autonomous system for detecting and suppressing incipient fires via drones and edge compute. The system is fully grid independent, leveraging recent advancements in battery electric vehicles, satellite communications, AI, and robotics, and integrates key knowledge from some of the world’s leading fire researchers who call UMD home.

Looking ahead

Registration for Mental Health Xperience Competition is open!

University student teams can choose from one of six tracks to develop a solution that improves the mental wellbeing of their peers.

190

Students registered

34

program degrees

Mental Health Xperience Competition

The Xperience Competition is your chance to tackle real-world grand challenges and turn innovative solutions into reality with up to $2M in funding.

Registration Closes

March 2026

Grand Prize:

Up to $2M

Finals:

Spring 2027

Next Summit

April 2027

Focus areas

These are the focus areas for the next NEXPLORE.

Smart User Interface

This challenge is about designing AI-powered screens that adapt in real-time for space explorers and for people in high-stress or high-focus jobs and tasks on Earth like paramedics, drivers, pilots, and plant operators.

Performance Prediction Systems

Come up with a topic that incentivizes the development of systems which continuously monitors people's vital signs and predicts when they need to rest, drink water, or eat. Your challenge should help someone stay safe and perform well in demanding situations like building sites, sports fields, or space missions.

Automated Asset Inspection

This challenge is about developing AI systems that autonomously detect structural issues, equipment wear, and safety hazards for applications like warehouse safety, bridge inspection, solar farm monitoring, and building management.

Adaptive Learning Tools

This challenge defines when and where real-time, AI-generated guidance becomes essential to help humans act, learn, and adapt on the fly in high-stakes environments on Earth and in space.

Sustained Focus Systems

This challenge is about developing programs that restore sustained focus for kids conditioned to constant stimulation, workplaces losing billions to distraction, older adults fighting cognitive decline, and astronauts requiring peak mental performance during extended missions in isolated environments.

Digital Trust Tools

This challenge is about addressing the trust breakdown across content, for professionals proving their qualifications, consumers spotting fake reviews, journalists verifying sources, and citizens trying to find truth in a world without turning verification into surveillance.

For our students: This is your foundation. We invite you to define and pitch compelling problems that you want to see solved within these critical areas.

For everyone else: These are the central themes for keynotes, panels, specialized working groups, and interactive exhibits.

Stay tuned for more information, and we'll see you there!

stay tuned

Follow us online