Our newest academy is here—and in the spirit of making the impossible possible, it was built specifically for teens who want to make the world a better place.
That's right, now launching: Moonshot Thinking with X, the Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X).
In this new course, teens will grapple with practical challenges by employing “moonshot thinking” and breakthrough technologies to challenges they’re passionate about.
Specifically, students will apply X’s approach to innovation and “moonshot mindset” while they collaborate with peers using the latest in coding, AI, machine learning, data science, and design tech.
Knowing that talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not, social impact is a core component to the program, with 10% of students attending on scholarship in the pilot season.
"Given our mission to create life-changing tech experiences that embolden students to shape the future, we are excited to partner with X, the Moonshot Factory—which develops breakthrough technologies,” says Ylka van Bemmel Reiss, Vice President of Social Impact at iD Tech.
“And while we feel really good about giving teens this immersive overnight experience, we feel great that a portion of seats will be allocated to historically excluded communities—so that everyone can have the opportunity to be inspired to dream bigger and aim higher," van Bemmel Reiss adds.
The academy experience is held on campus at one of four premier university destinations, including Stanford, MIT, UW Seattle, and UCLA.
Students will start by forming an understanding of “moonshot thinking,” and will then break into collaborative project teams. Each team will select and research a real-world problem before moving into ideating audacious solutions.
The goal: to build a product prototype and then test their prototype (and associated theories) by the end of week one—failing fast, and iterating on their next potential solution.
From there, students and their newfound network of X mentors and fellow students will continue to create new prototypes and apply moonshot thinking mindsets like shifting their perspectives and dispassionately assessing their creations.
Moving quickly, creatively, and cooperatively, each team will create a watertight pitch for their product, and will present that pitch and findings to guests at Family Showcase.
Teens will be able to add this certification to their portfolios, and a few teams will even be selected to pitch their projects to Xers at the end of the summer!
In total, by the end of their sessions, students will have:
- Experimented with emerging technologies and learned how they can be leveraged to launch a product
- Learned python fundamentals like loops, conditionals, and variables
- Worked with a team to build robust, probable, tech-driven solutions
- Iterated product solutions using revolutionary “moonshot thinking”
At the conclusion of the course, students will receive an official iD Tech diploma and course transcript outlining the skills they learned throughout the session.
We hope this course will equip teens with new skills and the confidence to apply technology to help tackle complex global problems and make their radical dreams, concepts, and ideas a reality.