Competition Judge
Ricardo Vanegas
Delogik Advisory & Solutions
Orange County · Student-Run
Students pitching real fixes to real environmental problems.
EcoInnovators competition community6High school chapters
500+Combined student members
50+Project submissions received
The Program
Not a science fair.
Not a science fair.
A pitch built on homework.
Throughout the year, chapter meetings dig into environmental issues through a technological lens — carbon capture, smart infrastructure, wildfire response, and more. By spring, every student has enough material to build their own pitch: a proposed tech solution to a real environmental problem, defended in front of people who work on these problems for a living.
Ideas developed with our curriculum have gone on to receive VC funding and be developed into real products.
Carbon Sink Technology
Gamifying Environmentalism
AI-Analyzed Soil Composition
Smart Cities
Firefighting Drones
+ new topics each year
Why students join:
Solve real environmental problems with technology. Meet other students from across Orange County. Meet the industry experts who judge the competition. Take on club leadership. Win a grant. And yes — it looks good on a college application.
— from The EcoInnovators chapter kickoff materials
How A Pitch Gets Built
The engineering design process, shortened to fit a semester.
WAYPOINT 01
Ask
Identify a real need or constraint in your community — the problem has to be worth solving before it's worth pitching.
EX — Lithium-ion batteries are the problem. Hydrogen fuel cells could solve it. So how do we safely integrate that into society?
WAYPOINT 02
Research
Do the homework. Judges ask hard questions — knowing your problem and subject cold is non-negotiable.
EX — An app for environmental journalists sounds nice. Does it actually help? What do the numbers say?
WAYPOINT 03
Plan
Pick a solution and make the case for it — a major problem needs you to justify your improvement; a minor one needs you to justify the whole idea.
Most teams stop here and pitch the plan itself. A working prototype is a bonus, never a requirement.
Present it all as a slide deck at the annual EcoInnovation Competition — no build required, just a defensible idea.
Flagship Event
EcoInnovation Competition
An interscholastic, interdisciplinary pitch competition. Teams present an original tech solution to an environmental problem — as a slide deck, to a panel of working professionals.
- WhenMid-March, annually
- WhereNewport Community Center
- FormatSlide deck presentation — no prototype required
- Judged byProfessionals from water districts, environmental investment, and civic leadership
- Open toStudents from every EcoInnovators chapter in Orange County
Annual
Event
Event
The Network
Six chapters. One competition.
Each chapter is run entirely by its own students — its own meetings, its own curriculum, its own outreach.
Orange County School of the Arts
ChapterSage Hill
ChapterLaguna Hills
ChapterYorba Linda
ChapterCorona del Mar
ChapterBeckman High School
ChapterDon't see your school? Any OC high school can start an EcoInnovators chapter and send a team to the competition.
Start a Chapter
Get Involved
How a chapter runs.
Every chapter is entirely student-led. These are the roles that keep one running, start to finish.
Leadership means more than running meetings — it's the students who talk to judges, sponsors, and city officials on behalf of their chapter.
President & VP of Club Operations
Runs meetings, sets the agenda, and brings in guest speakers when the President needs backup.
VP of Club Outreach
Builds the chapter's presence beyond its own school — partnerships, other clubs, the wider community.
VP of Event Coordination
Owns the flagship pitch event end to end — logistics, timing, every moving part.
Curriculum Designer
Shapes what the chapter actually learns — content, guest speakers, session planning.
Communications Liaison
Keeps internal and public messaging clear — newsletters, announcements, updates.
Social Media Manager
Runs the chapter's Instagram — graphics, updates, and actually talking back to followers.
Outreach Ambassador
The connective tissue to speakers, other clubs, and the broader community — including speaking at town meetings.
Event Operators
Keep competition day itself running — materials, logistics, the details nobody else sees.
Judges & Partners
Judged by people who work on this for a living.
Every competition brings in practitioners from across the fields our students are pitching into.
Competition Judge
Timothy Springer
Founder of Level Access and CEO of 1 to 100
Competition Judge
Riana Olson
Capstone Project Director, UCI Business School
Competition Judge
Ken Murphy
Program Director, UCI Business School
Competition Judge
Professor Choudhary
Professor, University of California, Irvine
Competition Judge
Roohi Toosi
President, APEX Environmental and Water Resources
Competition Judge
Suzan Given, CPSWQ
Environmental Scientist, County of Orange
Competition Judge
Amanda Jones
AQUATRAX Advisory Board Member
Competition Judge
Jelle Brons
Executive Vice President, PIMCO
Competition Judge
Lisa Haney
Orange County Water District Representative
Press Release
EcoInnovators in the news.
Newport Beach Independent
Newport Teens Collaborate on Sustainability Competition
A feature on the student-led network, its chapters, competition projects, and professional judging panel.
Read the feature →Stu News Newport
EcoInnovators Event Showcases Youth-Driven Solutions
A look at how Orange County students are developing and pitching practical environmental innovations.
Read the feature →
Next Step
Bring EcoInnovators to your school.
Join an existing chapter, start a new one, or step into a judging or sponsor role for next year's competition.