Please e-mail entries by June 5, 2026, to Lisa Rajchel [email protected]
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and its Committee on Education (CoE) announced the launch of its 2025/2026 Student Paper Competition, challenging high school and college students nationwide to investigate the unseen standards that make modern life possible. Entries are due by June 5, 2026.
The 15th annual competition promotes the 2025/2026 theme, “Imagine a World Without Standards or Rules—What Would Happen?” The competition invites students to become detective-journalists exploring how invisible technical standards support everything from smartphone compatibility to food safety—operating seamlessly behind the scenes of our interconnected society.
About the 2025/2026 Theme: Imagine a World Without Standards or Rules—What Would Happen?
Though largely invisible to most people, standards form the essential backbone of our modern society. They set specific guidelines for the design, operation, manufacture, and use of nearly everything produced by mankind, as well as requirements for processes, systems, and services. There are standards to protect human health, safety, and the environment, and others to assure that different products work compatibly together.
This competition challenges students to investigate compelling questions that many people may never think to ask. For example, how do your favorite shows stream smoothly across all your devices? How do you know your favorite food is safe to eat? Why are electric car charging stations becoming universal across automakers? How are you able to use your debit card in any ATM around the world? How can an entire school’s worth of electronic devices all connect to the same WiFi network? And how do you know that when you buy a light bulb, you will be able to screw it into your lamp?
All entries must follow specified instructions and meet requirements noted in the competition flyer. Each submission will receive a small token of ANSI’s appreciation, as well as a certificate of submission for the student and the school. The winning paper submitted by a high school student will receive a prize to be determined; the winning paper submitted by a student from an institute of higher learning will also receive a prize. ANSI reserves the right to award no prizes based on the determination of the judges. The winning papers will be announced in August 2026.
Winning entries will be published on ANSl.org and potentially in other media outlets. Winning submissions will be shared with and widely read by the domestic and international standards community, including experts in government, industry, professional societies, and academic institutions.
For full submission criteria, access the ANSI 2025/2026 Student Paper Competition flyer. Email entries by June 5, 2026, to Lisa Rajchel, [email protected]. The winning papers will be announced in August 2026.
Students are invited to explore one area where “invisible” standards impact the world/greater society. This can include:
ANSI has developed a list of suggested resources for research and references:
