A hands-on programme where students ship real AI products, deploy multi-agent systems, and build autonomous robots — taught by ex-leaders from Google, YouTube, DeepMind, and IBM, led by the most decorated K-12 XPRIZE mentor in the world.
The Opportunity
AI is rewriting the rules of every career, every industry, and every definition of "productive." Korean schools serve families who already invest heavily in education, but the current system optimises almost entirely for test scores.
That's a gap — and it's an enormous opportunity. The students who learn to think with AI — not just use it — will have options that today's exam system cannot imagine. Our team builds AI systems professionally and we're bringing that same hands-on expertise directly to students.
Why STEMNovation
The 10x Employee
Students don't just learn to use AI — they understand how it works fundamentally and ship real products with it. They enter the workforce as the person who's 10x more formidable because they've been building with AI since they were 14.
Fuel for Entrepreneurship
AI has collapsed the cost of starting a company. One person can now do what took a team of 10. We teach students to build AI-native businesses from scratch — design, automate, deploy, ship — a viable path they can start pursuing in high school.
College Admissions Edge
Shipped AI products and XPRIZE competition credentials are exactly what admissions officers want. Danny Kim's students have won $800K as the youngest XPRIZE winners ever. No hagwon can put that on an application.
What Students Build
AI & Modern Engineering
Three progressive tracks take students from design thinking to production-grade AI systems — using the same tools professionals use every day.
Product Design
UX fundamentals, AI-assisted Figma workflows, conversational UI, and ethical AI in design
AI Operations
Workflow automation with n8n, local AI with Ollama, multi-agent systems, and cloud deployment
Vibe Coding
AI-assisted coding, code reviews, Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps with AI
Specialisation capstones: DataOps, MLOps, DevSecOps, SiteOps, or ProductOps — portfolio-grade projects aligned to real career pathways.
Robotics
Hands-on engineering from first principles — no prior coding experience required. Students progress from block programming through competitive robotics to AI-integrated capstones.
Block Programming & micro:bit
Programming logic, sensors & I/O, wireless communication, and hands-on measurement projects
RoboQuest Challenges
Robot construction, applied physics, competitive sumo bots & derby races, multi-robot collaboration
Advanced Engineering Design
Mechanical systems, CAD-based design, modular engineering under real-world constraints
AI-Integrated Capstone
Where both pillars converge — train robots to detect anomalies using sensor data and AI-assisted tools
AI as Critical Thinking Trainer
We don't use AI to give students answers. We use AI as the most demanding Socratic sparring partner ever built — challenging assumptions, stress-testing reasoning, and refusing to let sloppy thinking slide. The goal is students who think so rigorously that they can direct AI effectively.
The Kickstart & The Apex
AI Futures Summit
2-Day Kickstart Event
Parents & educators summit — keynotes from Danny Kim on XPRIZE wins, Nick Kim on AI industry trends, and San Baek on the Korean education opportunity (in Korean). Live demo: a student ships a working product in 30 minutes.
Students build — hands-on workshop choosing robotics or AI product tracks. Mini Demo Day for parents and faculty at the end.
XPRIZE Korea
The Apex Competition Team
Top-performing students are selected to form XPRIZE Korea — a 10–15 person team entering a million-dollar XPRIZE challenge.
Danny Kim has done it before — twice. His high school students won $800K in the XPRIZE Ocean Discovery competition and are current top-5 finalists in the $11M XPRIZE Wildfire competition, competing against Anduril ($14B defense contractor).
Your school becomes the home base of Korea's first high school XPRIZE team.
What Students Graduate With
Every student finishes with a professional portfolio of shipped projects — working robots, deployed AI products, automated workflows. Not certificates. Not test scores. Tangible proof of what they can build.
The Team
Nick Kim
CEO, Gargantua Group
Former Google/YouTube, 20+ years. Built YouTube's global platform business across 30+ countries. UC Berkeley mechanical engineering. Now leads Data and AI strategy for large Korean enterprises.
Danny Kim
Founder & CEO, Quest X
Cornell CS. The most decorated K-12 XPRIZE mentor in the world. Students won $800K in XPRIZE Ocean Discovery (youngest winners ever), top-5 finalists in $11M Wildfire XPRIZE competing against Anduril.
Hannah Kim
VP of Education, Quest X
Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed.M.). Built a functioning high school incubator at Valley Christian Schools where students pitch to Silicon Valley VCs and launch real businesses. Her BEI framework is the pedagogical backbone of the programme.
Edward Jones
CTO and Head of R&D, Gargantua Education
MS Systems Engineering, Cornell. 20+ years at Google and Lockheed Martin. Active CS professor teaching agentic AI. Bridges industry engineering and academic rigour across the curriculum.
San Baek
Director of Strategy, Gargantua Education
Stanford GSB. Director of Product at Coupang. Led product at three $1B+ Silicon Valley companies (Faire, Quizlet, Ibotta). The Korean voice parents trust — fluent in both languages, credible in both worlds.
Jooch Nam
Director of Strategic Partnerships (Korea), Gargantua Education
Former Executive Director, AMCHAM Korea (~900 member companies). Currently at EBS, Korea's national educational broadcaster. Direct network into the executive families at Korea's schools.
Dave Kim
Director of Global Partnerships, Gargantua Education
University of Michigan. 15+ years scaling education brands across the US and Korea. Former Academic Director at Chungdahm (KOSDAQ-listed), co-founded an EdTech venture with Interpark, and built curriculum that reached 40,000+ learners across Asia. Now leads programme design including NASA-linked ISS experiments for K-12.
Senior Advisors & Guest Lecturers
How It Fits Your School
Flexible scheduling
Co-curricular, after-school, or full-day — zero disruption to your calendar
Fully modular
Select the pillars and modules that align with school priorities
We supply everything
Instructors, curriculum, micro:bit kits, cloud labs, and assessment rubrics
Zero prerequisites
Year-long or 6-month programme for Grade 7+ — every student can start
Beyond the classroom
Inter-school hackathons, AI exhibitions, career field trips, and summer camps
Summit alignment
The AI Futures Summit can align with existing parent events or camp programming
Ready to bring STEMNovation to your school?
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