Tech
Galaxy
Award
tga.org
Eight ways
to be brilliant.
A single trophy cannot capture what happens at TGA. Some teams arrive with one student who carries the room; others have eight quieter voices whose integration is the real achievement. Some projects are technically dazzling; others are quietly ethical. We honor all of these — distinctly.
The TGA Galaxy is engineered around a simple belief: excellence in tech is not one thing, and recognition should not pretend that it is. Every cohort produces a unique constellation. Every constellation has many stars.
01 · The brightest star
Polaris Award
The single most rigorous, original, and ethically grounded project of the year. Polaris is not awarded each cohort by default — the judging panel may choose to leave the sky unmarked if no submission meets the standard. When awarded, it is the highest honor TGA confers.
- Recognition: Singular · once per year at most
- Conferred by: Full judging panel, unanimous
- Honor: Polaris Laureate · permanent record
02 · The team that guided the year
North Star
The champion team. The cohort that best embodied TGA's vision of justice, rigor, and design — the team future cohorts will study. Unlike Polaris (a singular project), North Star recognizes the team as a whole: how its members worked together, defended each other's logic, and rose to the challenge over seven days.
- Recognition: One team per cohort
- Conferred by: Judging panel + faculty mentors
- Honor: Featured in TGA Yearbook
03 · The unexpected arc
Rising Star
For the participant who arrived quietly and left a mark. Rising Star recognizes the steepest growth over the seven days — a student who, by their final defense, was operating at a level no one (sometimes including themselves) anticipated on day one. Awarded individually, not by team.
- Recognition: Up to three per cohort
- Conferred by: Faculty mentors who tracked the cohort
- Honor: Individual citation in TGA record
04 · The thinking judges did not expect
Supernova
For the project that disrupted the room — a framing, a method, or a conclusion the panel did not anticipate, backed by reasoning rigorous enough to survive a three-minute defense. Supernova is not awarded for novelty alone. The disruption must be defensible.
- Recognition: One project per cohort
- Conferred by: Judging panel
- Honor: Published case study
05 · Two minds, one orbit
Binary Star
For the pair within a team whose collaboration produced more than the sum of its parts. Binary Star recognizes the partnership — often two students with different temperaments or skill sets — whose mutual challenge sharpened the whole project. The award is conferred to both as a single citation.
- Recognition: One pair per cohort
- Conferred by: Mentors + peer nomination
- Honor: Joint citation in TGA record
06 · Every member essential
Constellation
The team whose role design and integration were textbook — eight members, eight distinct contributions, no shadow players. Constellation is the antidote to the "two stars carry the rest" failure mode. It rewards the team that did the harder thing: distributing visibility evenly without diluting rigor.
- Recognition: One team per cohort
- Conferred by: Faculty mentors
- Honor: Featured in TGA Yearbook
07 · The project that made us pause
Stardust
For the project whose imagination, language, or visual identity reframed how the room thought about the problem. Stardust is less about technical rigor and more about communicative grace — the team that made AI feel human again. We give it because the future of tech is also a future of meaning.
- Recognition: One project per cohort
- Conferred by: Judging panel
- Honor: Showcased in TGA closing keynote
08 · The gravity behind every star
Galaxy Mentor
The teacher, advisor, or coach behind a team that demonstrably elevated their thinking. Galaxy Mentor recognizes the adult who prepared their students to defend, not just to present — to argue, not just to recite. The award is conferred by the participating students themselves, by anonymous nomination.
- Recognition: Up to three per cohort
- Conferred by: Anonymous student nomination
- Honor: Invited to TGA Mentor Network
How the panel
decides.
All eight awards are decided against a published rubric. The weighting differs by award — Polaris weights technical and ethical reasoning most heavily; Stardust weights communicative depth; Galaxy Mentor is decided entirely by student vote — but the rubric itself is shared, audited, and made public after each cohort.
See full judging framework- AI logic & technical soundness 25%
- Urban systems understanding 20%
- Innovation & creativity 20%
- Design communication & clarity 15%
- Defense rigor & responsiveness 10%
- Team integration & role equity 10%
Find your place
in the galaxy.
Every TGA participant receives a verifiable certificate of participation. Honorees are added to the TGA permanent record. Mentors join an alumni network of educators around the world.
Register a team Verify a certificate