About the competition
Sydney Metro believes Sydney’s youth has what it takes to solve real challenges in Australia’s biggest public transport project.
Metro Minds STEAM Challenge invites students in Year 7 to Year 10 near Sydney Metro’s City & Southwest, West and Western Sydney Airport railway alignments to work together to come up with an innovative solution to an authentic Sydney Metro challenge or opportunity.
Getting involved is easy.
Step 1: Form a team with four to six students per team, solve a real challenge or opportunity that Sydney Metro may face as it revolutionises how Sydneysiders travel. Registration is now open.
Step 2: Explore Using the Sydney Metro project as context, identify a challenge, opportunity or problem worth solving. New for 2025, teams can focus their innovation on one of two Challenge statements identified on the Explore the Challenges page. Get inspiration by visiting the Sydney Metro website, talking to family and friends, or reaching out to members of your local community.
Step 3: Innovate Follow the design-thinking process and empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test your innovation. Meet our Metro Minds ambassadors and experts to get feedback and refine your solution!
Step 4: The pitch Create a five-minute video and 500-word concept brief to pitch your team’s idea.
Step 5: Submit Ask your coordinating teacher to upload your entry.
Teachers and students have access to supporting resources including, curriculum-aligned unit of work, poster and student folio/workbook. Teams will complete the Challenge in Term 2.
The best teams will be shortlisted and invited to attend a finals event to live-pitch and showcase their solution to Sydney Metro.
Take a look at the 2025 timeline for the Challenge.
The design process
Use the design thinking process to develop your innovation and prototype.
Judging criteria
Each teams submission will be judged based on the following set of criteria.