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The Design & Innovation Department at Sandia Prep is built on a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration. By bridging different fields of study, we provide students with a "real-world" professional experience—mimicking the dynamics of an engineer working with a programmer or an entrepreneur leading a technical team.

This year, that collaborative spirit reached a new milestone. Students from Arren Buck’s Mechatronics class joined forces with Daniel de León’s Entrepreneurial Studies class to compete in the New Mexico State University Arrowhead Entrepreneurial Center’s Innoventure Challenge. The year-long competition requires teams to engineer a functional prototype for a significant problem and develop a comprehensive business plan to bring that product to market. To reach the finals, Sandia Prep’s three teams had to outperform 33 other high schools from across New Mexico and El Paso through three rigorous rounds of competition.

In a dominant showing, Sandia Prep secured three of the six finalist spots at the main event. This year’s challenge tasked students with designing a prototype to provide cooling and reduce heat stress for humans or animals outdoors. Team Maddox—comprised of Maddox Rios-Bruner '26, Cole Updegraff '26 and Josiah Henderson '27—took home First Place honors. Their winning entry featured a series of wearable cooling prototypes, including a specialized vest and backpack attachment utilizing advanced cooling technology. In addition to the title, each team member was awarded an iPad. This victory marks Sandia Prep’s second appearance in the finals since 2019. We are incredibly proud of all our participants. Congratulations, Team Maddox!