Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) and the Atlanta Hawks celebrated students developing new STEM skills by participating in their second annual Arena of the Future Innovation Challenge at State Farm Arena.  

The six-week contest featured youth from local Atlanta schools presenting plans to make the downtown venue more automated, energy-efficient and guest-friendly. 

The recognition tipped off Monday evening with welcome speeches from Hawks and Honeywell leadership. The students then took turns presenting their ideas in groups to the panel of industry judges. After careful deliberations, the winners were selected and awarded a total of $10,000 funded by Honeywell. Participants also received branded Honeywell merchandise and customized Hawks jerseys. 

The first-place team won $7,500. The winning team, comprised of five students from the Agape Youth and Family Center, presented NavRoute. Their idea was to develop a map-based feature in the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Area App that shows real-time crowd levels, navigational routes to all areas of the arena, and immediate arena staff notifications like guest experience and security notifications.  

Second place team won $2,500. They proposed implementing automated smart waste bins equipped with sorting sensors and image recognition technology to assist fans and our R3 zero-waste squad in improving sorting efficiency.

"We were truly amazed by the ingenuity and passion shown by the students in this Challenge,” said Chris Ladas, vice president and chief technology officer of Building Management Systems for Honeywell’s Building Automation segment. “Their bold ideas highlight the incredible potential of young minds to drive progress in automation and energy management. Investing in these future innovators and Futureshapers helps build a better world fueled by teamwork and creativity.” 

“It is great to continue to team up with Honeywell as we wrap up another year of the Arena of the Future Innovation Challenge to promote STEM programs,” said Sofi Armenakian, head of Sustainable Strategy, Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena. “I’m very impressed by the presentations shared by the students at today’s event. The presentations were well thought out and provided creative and approachable solutions. It is refreshing and inspiring to hear from our younger generations. We are all a part of the solution.” 

This is the contest’s second year. Over six weeks, each student team was paired with a mentor from Honeywell as they brainstormed concepts to help improve building automation and energy management efforts at State Farm Arena. The Challenge concluded with Honeywell and the Hawks hosting the capstone event at State Farm Arena Monday. 

In 2024, Honeywell announced that it became the Official Sustainable Building Technology Partner for the Hawks and State Farm Arena. As part of this multi-year deal, Honeywell will continue to implement a series of high-tech upgrades to State Farm Arena's building operations systems to help decrease energy consumption and emissions while increasing visibility and control of the indoor environment. 

To learn more about the organizations’ commitment to sustainability, visit StateFarmArena.com/sustainability.