HMC Innovation Accelerator Lab: Imaginative Prototyping with AI

🚨 NOTE: Applications for this project are not being collected directly through the URO site! Read the requirements below, but submit your application here. 🚨

🚀 Call for Fellows: The Innovation Accelerator Laboratory for Imaginative AI Prototyping

Build the Future. Question Everything. Shape What's Next.

Are you ready to move beyond hypotheticals and build real AI prototypes that spark critical conversations about what STEM for a Better World means?

The Harvey Mudd Innovation Accelerator Laboratory for Imaginative Prototyping with AI is seeking curious builders and critical thinkers from across the 5Cs to join our inaugural cohort of AI Fellows. This isn't just another AI hackathon—it's an opportunity to shape how we collectively navigate the promises and perils of artificial intelligence through hands-on creation and thoughtful critique over a extended period of work together.

What We're Building Together

As an AI Fellow, you'll work in small entrepreneurial teams (2-3 people) to create concrete AI prototypes that tackle real questions like:

• How might AI enhance learning without eroding the vital student-faculty relationships at the heart of education?
• How might we automate the mundane but preserve the meaningful? How does this shape what we think of as mundane or meaningful?
• Can AI accelerate scientific discovery without creating unhealthy dependencies?
• Where does productive struggle end and unnecessary friction begin?

Resources for Fellows

• 💰 Summer Funded Fellowship (Two spots available at $7,000 per fellow)
• 🤝 Mentorship from faculty and industry experts
• 💡 Infrastructure Support including AI API credits and access to AI tools and hardware
• 🌟 Community of fellow builders pushing boundaries and asking hard questions
• 📢 Platform to share your work through blog posts and Presentation Days
• 🏢 Potential Industry Connections for future opportunities

Timeline

• Spring 2026: Weekly lab meetings, prototype development, peer feedback sessions, presentation of your work at Mudd's Presentation Days
• Summer 2026: Intensive building period with stipend support

Application Requirements

Part 1: Tell Us Your Story (Written Responses)

1. The Spark (200 words): What's one way AI has surprised, delighted, or troubled you recently? What questions did it raise?
2. The Vision (300 words): Pitch us a prototype you'd love to build. What problem does it address? Who would use it? What could go right? What could go wrong?
3. The Team (150 words): What kind of person would you like to build alongside? What kind of collaborator would complement your skills?
4. The Innovation Bargain (250 words): Every technology bundles freedom with limitation. Pick any AI tool you use regularly—what freedoms does it grant? What limitations does it impose? What trade-offs are you making by using it?
5. The Why (150 words): Why this lab? Why now? Why you?

Part 2: The Prototype Challenge

Show us how you think by building.

Your mission:

1. Choose an AI tool (ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Replit Agent, v0, or any AI-powered builder/vibe-coding tool)
2. Build something small that addresses a problem you or someone you know faces (could be silly, serious, or somewhere in between)
3. Create a short Loom lightning talk (no more than 3 minutes!) where you:
   • Demo what you built
   • Explain your process and the AI's role
   • Apply the Innovation Bargain framework: What new freedoms does your prototype create? What limitations or dependencies might it introduce?
   • Identify one unintended consequence that might emerge if 1,000 people started using this tomorrow

i'm not looking for polish here, but for the seed of the idea and the thought process you used to prototype it. The more you can do to show your work and thought process, not just the final prototype you created the better. For example, tell me how/why you landed on this idea and tell me about how you built it! I'm not looking for perfection—I'm looking for imagination, critical thinking, and the ability to build and reflect quickly.

Part 3: Optional Portfolio

Have you already built something with AI that demonstrates your capabilities? Share up to 3 links to previous projects, with a one-sentence description of each.

Submit Your Application

Applications for this project are not submitted directly through the URO site, but through the application form here.

The Innovation Accelerator Laboratory is supported by the HMC Seed Grant Program. We strongly encourage applications from students across all disciplines at the 5Cs—your unique perspective might be exactly what we need.

Questions? Contact Prof. Josh Brake at jbrake@hmc.edu