View final posters showcasing student research and inventions:
View the 2025 Student Posters View the 2024 Student Posters
Did you know? This program is free for all participating students!
Donate & Support the Program
Overview
Calling all high school students: Start creating solutions for your communities!
Railroading doesn’t just have a past—it has a present, and a bright future. This future depends on the people who join its ranks and what problem-solving skills they bring to the party. People just like you!
▪ Online interactive program
▪ Eight-week course on Saturdays
▪ 11:00am - 2:00pm PT / 2:00pm - 5:00pm ET
▪ October 18 to December 13, 2025 (off for Thanksgiving weekend)
▪ Open for 9th-12th grade students
▪ For students of all interests and backgrounds
▪ Free for participants!
No prior knowledge of or interest in railroading is required - just curiosity and willingness to learn and problem-solve!
This program is a joint effort between the California State Railroad Museum and the Lemelson-MIT Program (LMIT), and is financially supported by the California State Railroad Museum Foundation.
Applications are closed for 2025
If you are interested in participating in this program in the future, please contact [email protected] to be added to our RIA contact list
Community Impact
Community impact is the subject of focus for the Fall 2025 session of Rail Innovation in Action.
This online program explores real-world, human-centered issues that shape the community’s relationship with the railroad industry, both today and in the future.
Example topics include:
- Passenger service and community access
- Environmental and safety factors
- Infrastructure and community development
- Influence on workforce and economy
plus career chat speakers from:
(in no particular order)
California High-Speed Rail Authority, Siemens Mobility, Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, Union Pacific, Brightline West, California State Railroad Museum Foundation, Stadler Rail, GATX Corporation, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, Caltrans, Chicago Transit Authority, Center for Innovation and Change Leadership at Suffolk Business School, HNTB, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, MxV Rail, U.S. DOT Volpe Center
How to Apply
Students who will be in 9th-12th grade for the 2025-26 school year are invited to apply for California State Railroad Museum & Lemelson-MIT’s "Rail Innovation in Action" program.
Applications are closed for 2025.
If you are interested in participating in this program in the future, please contact [email protected] to be added to our RIA contact list.
The online program is completely free. We strongly encourage students from low-income households and groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields to apply. All applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will be considered, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Rail Innovation in Action is open to anyone in the world, with the exception of United States embargoed countries (Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea, or the Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic or Luhansk People’s Republic areas of Ukraine), regardless of age, nationality, gender identity, cultural identity, or political viewpoint. US law prevents MIT from providing services to persons ordinarily resident in Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea, or the Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic, or Luhansk People’s Republic areas of Ukraine and to parties blocked by the US Treasury Department.
What to Expect
Guest experts in the modern rail industry will talk about some of the challenges facing railroading.
Program content includes research posters, group activities, virtual tours, Q&A sessions, and watercooler career talks with railway professionals.
This program will take place over Zoom and Canvas web-based software. Students will need access to a computer and a strong internet connection.
Students should plan to spend a total of 4-5 hours per week on this program.
Program Goals
This unique opportunity offers an exploration into cutting-edge innovations in railway transportation. Students will be honing research and invention development skills transferrable to higher academia and future endeavors.
Rail Innovation in Action aims to build intergenerational networks of experts who inform, coach and mentor young learners while they prototype their own inventions.
At the end of the eight-week course, students will have an opportunity to present their own solutions to real-world issues affecting the current and future railroad industry.
More About LMIT
The Lemelson-MIT Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a national leader in advancing invention education. They inspire young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Their work focuses on the expansion of opportunities for all young people to learn ways inventors find and solve problems that matter.
LMIT is devoted to bringing invention education opportunities to students, through which they identify problems, develop inventions, protect their intellectual property, and commercialize their creations.
LMIT also helps educators and partners create invention education opportunities in their communities that begin in the early years and continue through college.
