The Wildfire Quest Team advances to Alaska finals in autonomous wildfire response competition.
In a field dominated by universities, defense contractors, and international research labs, a team of Silicon Valley teenagers has broken into the Top 5 finalists of the Autonomous Wildfire Response Track of the $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition.
Valley Christian Schools (VCS), along with its technology partners Kaizen™ Aerospace and SensoRy AI, announced today that its student engineering team, Wildfire Quest, has advanced as one of the five Finalists in the $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition’s Autonomous Wildfire Response track, continuing a historic run as the only high school team competing at this level in the global XPRIZE field.
“These students aren’t building science projects, they’re building solutions firefighters actually need,” said Danny Kim of Valley Christian Schools. “They’re tackling the same problems professionals face: speed, terrain, and extreme conditions.”
Finalist teams advancing in the Autonomous Wildfire Response trackof the XPRIZE Wildfire competition passed a rigorous judging process, which assessed their Technical Readiness Level (TRL) across three core areas: Smart Wildfire Detection; Autonomous Navigation & Safety; Autonomous Suppression, which then gave an aggregated TRL. Additionally, teams were assessed on their system scalability to meet the 1000km2 area.
“Globally, wildfires are becoming more frequent, more intense, more unpredictable, and more destructive,” said Andrea Santy, XPRIZE Wildfire Program Director. “The technologies being developed by these Finalist teams offer meaningful solutions with the potential to fundamentally change how we detect, respond to, and ultimately prevent catastrophic wildfire events.”
From Classroom to Fireline: A Valley Ecosystem Built for Breakthroughs
The team’s success is powered by Valley Christian’s AMSE Institute, which gives high school students access to advanced R&D tools, rapid prototyping, mentorship, and engineering resources typically found only at universities or in industry labs preparing teams for competitions like XPRIZE.
Students have spent years iterating on a next-generation wildfire platform that integrates early detection, decision-making, and suppression, designed with real-world fire behavior in mind.
Where Student Ingenuity Meets Industry Muscle
That work is reinforced by industry partners Kazien™ Aerospace and SensoRy AI, whose technologies expand the system’s operational realism and performance.
“Wildfire response demands speed, autonomy, and reliability under extreme conditions,” said Ziv Marom, Founder and CEO of Kazien™ Aerospace. “What impressed us about Wildfire Quest is not just the talent of the students, but their commitment to building systems that work in the real world. Our role is to bring proven heavy-lift + AI autonomous flight and operational experience to the table, and together we’re demonstrating what’s possible when industry and next-generation engineers work side by side to protect lives and communities.”
Together, Kaizen™ and SensoRy AI help complete the full response loop by pairing heavy-lift autonomous suppression with rapid, long-range detection and precise location reporting. The result is a system designed to move from first alert to targeted action in minutes, not hours.
“Wildfire response hinges on two things: knowing quickly that a fire exists and knowing exactly where it is”, said Ryan Honary, Founder of SensoRy AI, “We’ve designed and field-tested our platform to deliver both. As a teenager, it’s been particularly exciting to collaborate with other teens and the Kaizen team to integrate that capability into a complete suppression workflow, and exactly the kind of practical innovation this XPRIZE challenge is meant to surface.”
What Comes Next: Alaska Finals and Real-World Testing
With this global XPRIZE competition culminating in Alaska this June, Wildfire Quest is poised to test its technology where it matters most, under real conditions, real pressure, and real stakes. The team’s advancement signals a new model for innovation, where students, industry, and mission-driven education come together to protect lives and landscapes.
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