Would You Trust It? Exploring How Standards Build Confidence in Products, Services, and Emerging Technologies
Please e-mail entries by June 11, 2027, to Lisa Rajchel [email protected]
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and its Committee on Education (CoE) invite high school and college students nationwide to enter the 2026/2027 Student Paper Competition. Entries are due by June 11, 2027.
The competition’s theme is “Would You Trust It? Exploring How Standards Build Confidence in Products, Services, and Emerging Technologies.” Students are invited to explore the connection between trust and standards: What standards help make the things we buy, use, and depend on safe, reliable, and worthy of our confidence?
About the 2026/2027 Theme:
From the moment our phone alarm wakes us up to the time we plug it in to charge overnight, we trust countless products and services we can’t see or test ourselves. We wear bike helmets, tap a card to pay, and use an app to order meals straight to our door—rarely stopping to ask why we feel so confident doing it.
This year, students are asked to investigate a simple but powerful question: What makes something trustworthy, and how do standards help get it there? For example, how do you know the helmet you wear for sports will effectively protect your head? What keeps an e-bike battery from catching fire? Why is it safe to enter your credit card number online? Would you trust a drone to deliver your order to the right doorstep?
Submission Information
All entries must meet the requirements in the ANSI 2026/2027 Student Paper Competition flyer. Each qualifying submission will receive a $20 gift card and certificate of submission for the student. The winning high school paper will receive a $1,000 prize; the winning paper submitted by a student from an institution of higher learning will receive a $1,500 prize. ANSI reserves the right to award no prizes based on the judges’ determination.
Winning entries will be published on ansi.org and potentially other media outlets. Winning submissions will be shared widely with the domestic and international standards community, including experts in government, industry, professional societies, and academic institutions. Submissions must be an original—not AI-generated—work, and not previously published.
For full submission criteria, access the ANSI 2026/2027 Student Paper Competition flyer. Email entries by June 11, 2027, to Lisa Rajchel, [email protected]. The winning papers will be announced in August 2027.
Research Areas
Choose one of the three focus areas below and explore how standards build confidence within it:
Products—Put Trust to the Test: The Standards Behind the Stuff You Buy, Wear, and Use
Services—Put Trust to the Test: Standards That Protect What You Share, Order, and Pay For
Emerging Technology – Put Trust to the Test: Standards That Help New Technology Earn Our Confidence and Gain Adoption
Have another idea? Propose your own topic, subject to approval, by contacting Lisa Rajchel ([email protected]).
Resources for Research
ANSI has developed a list of suggested resources for research and reference:
