Two classes were in session at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology’s Propst Center last week. In one, middle schoolers were working on summer camp projects downstairs. Nothing unusual there, but one floor up a second learning session unfolded – for teachers.

The Invention Convention (IC), a state, national, and international program with competitions that begin at each school across the country and culminate in a final event in Michigan, is spreading into classrooms throughout Alabama.

Invention Convention Alabama is a competition for students where teachers are given resources to teach invention education in the classroom, and students become inventors. Students identify a problem in their life, or in the world around them, and they develop a solution for that problem.

“Then they compete,’’ Kelly East, VP of Educational Outreach at HudsonAlpha, told the Huntsville Business Journal. “They present that problem at a school competition, the winners advance to regional competition next spring, then the winners there go on to the state competition, which will be in Auburn in April.’’

From there, winners advance to the national competition at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Mich., in June 2026.

Teachers from throughout the region gathered at HudsonAlpha for a day-long seminar presented by representatives of Auburn City Schools who have experience with IC. The program was piloted in a couple of areas in Alabama last year, including Auburn and Oxford, but it is being rolled out across the state this next school year.

Women and men representing various school districts brought examples of “problems’’ their students solved with a unique idea, or invention. For example, one item displayed was a “watchala,’’ a combination whisk/spatula designed to speed and simplify cooking.

“This is a room full of teachers from across Region 1,’’ East explained. “They’re here to do training. These are all teachers from across North Alabama that are here to learn and to take this program to their schools next school year.’’

The program is based in STEM+, or STEMIE (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Innovation and Entrepreneurship). IC Worldwide is defined at inhub.thehenryford.org as a K-12 invention education program that teaches students problem-identification, problem-solving, entrepreneurship and creativity skills and builds confidence in invention, innovation and entrepreneurship for life.

The Henry Ford, as it calls itself, further states that today’s students are faced with tackling current complex global challenges like climate change, cybersecurity, water scarcity, food security and infectious diseases. For educators preparing students for the future of STEM, “convergence education’’ offers a transdisciplinary approach to real-world problem-solving and phenomenon-based learning.

Invention Convention Worldwide has been developed and tested for over 30 years.

Ana Beasley of Guntersville Middle School saw an email that piqued her interest regarding the IC session at HudsonAlpha.

“STEM and career tech is really booming right now,” she said. “This is kind of the first of its kind. A lot of schools do science fairs, which are pretty popular, so when this came around, the idea of the student actually creating something in a STEM process and then presenting it, just like they would at the traditional science fair kind of foundation that they already had, was really kind of exciting.”

Beasley added that teachers are “always looking for new ideas, and this is an innovative, kind of new thing.’’

According to East, teachers who couldn’t attend the seminar have other opportunities.

“They can reach out to us,’’ she said, “and we can provide additional training so that more schools can participate beyond those that were able to be here for training today.’’