Morgan State AI innovation is getting national recognition after a team of student innovators won first place in the 2026 PROPEL Center Future of Tech Innovation Challenge with an artificial intelligence-powered app designed to help students manage social anxiety and build stronger communication skills.

The winning team, known as Team HAX Lab, represented Morgan State University and earned the $35,000 grand prize for SocialSense AI, a privacy-first app that uses artificial intelligence to analyze social interactions and give users personalized feedback. The app was designed to help college students and others become more confident during real-world conversations.

The students competed against HBCU teams from across the country in a challenge focused on real-world problem solving, emerging technology, and the future of work. For Morgan State, the win adds another major achievement to the university’s growing reputation in artificial intelligence, computer science, and student-led innovation.

Morgan State AI Innovation Wins On A National Stage

Team HAX Lab included four Morgan State students: Osita Odunze, Jaden Reeves, Daniel Onyejiekwe, and Fikewa Akindolire. The students represented Morgan’s Human-AI eXperience Lab, known as HAX Lab, along with the Department of Computer Science and the Center for Equitable Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Systems.

The PROPEL Center Future of Tech Innovation Challenge brought together students from historically Black colleges and universities to develop AI-driven solutions for real-world problems. The challenge attracted more than 1,100 applicants from 89 HBCUs nationwide. Only 70 finalists representing 17 institutions advanced to the national finals.

That level of competition makes Morgan State’s win stand out even more. The students were not just asked to come up with an idea. They had to identify a problem, build an AI-powered solution, create a pitch, and present their work in front of industry leaders and technology professionals.

SocialSense AI stood out because it connects artificial intelligence to a challenge many students quietly deal with: social anxiety. The app was built within the Apple ecosystem and designed to use data from devices such as the iPhone and Apple Watch to assess conversational dynamics, engagement levels, and signs of nervousness.

The goal is not to replace human connection. The goal is to help users better understand how they communicate, track their progress, and grow more comfortable in social settings over time.

SocialSense AI Puts Privacy At The Center

One of the most important parts of SocialSense AI is its privacy-first design.

For an app dealing with personal communication patterns, emotional cues, and anxiety, privacy cannot be an afterthought. Team HAX Lab built SocialSense AI so sensitive personal data remains stored on the user’s device instead of being sent to the cloud. That feature helped separate the app from many AI tools that collect and process personal data externally.

That matters because the next generation of technology will not just be judged by how powerful it is. It will also be judged by how responsible it is.

Morgan State’s students showed that HBCU innovators are thinking beyond the hype around AI. They are thinking about trust, safety, mental health, and how emerging technology can serve people without exploiting them.

For students, especially those navigating college life, networking, classroom participation, internships, and career development, communication skills can shape opportunity. A tool like SocialSense AI speaks directly to that experience.

HBCU Students Are Building The Future Of Tech

This win also pushes back against the idea that HBCU students are simply trying to enter the tech industry. They are already building solutions that belong in the future of tech.

Programs like the PROPEL Center Future of Tech Innovation Challenge are important because they give HBCU students access to mentorship, applied learning, industry feedback, and national visibility. Students were challenged to work across areas such as education, health innovation, cybersecurity, energy, media technology, and accessibility.

That experience matters in a tech economy where access has not always been equal. Black students and HBCU graduates have the talent, ideas, and cultural insight to help shape artificial intelligence. What they often need is the platform, funding, and industry access to bring those ideas forward.

Morgan State’s win shows what happens when that access meets preparation.

The team’s victory also reflects the university’s broader investment in AI and equitable technology. Through the HAX Lab and CEAMLS, Morgan State students are being trained to think about artificial intelligence in ways that center human experience, fairness, and real community impact.

That is what makes this story bigger than a pitch competition. It is a reminder that HBCUs are not outside the innovation economy. They are central to it.

Morgan State Students Turn Classroom Learning Into Real Impact

For the students on Team HAX Lab, the challenge gave them a chance to turn classroom learning into a working prototype with real-world potential.

Akindolire, an information systems major, said the experience helped confirm her interest in product management. Reeves, a cloud computing graduate, highlighted the value of meeting students and professionals across the innovation space. Onyejiekwe, a computer science graduate, said the challenge helped him turn an idea into a product and pitch it with confidence.

That kind of experience can change a student’s career path. It gives them more than a résumé line. It gives them proof that their ideas can compete nationally, attract investment, and solve meaningful problems.

Morgan State said Odunze, Reeves, and Onyejiekwe graduated during the university’s 149th Spring Commencement in May, while Akindolire is a rising junior. Their win gives current and future Morgan students another example of what is possible when HBCU talent gets the space to create.

A Major Win For Morgan State And HBCU Innovation

The success of Team HAX Lab is a major moment for Morgan State and a strong example of the innovation happening across the HBCU news landscape.

HBCUs have always produced leaders, problem-solvers, and culture-shapers. Now, as artificial intelligence transforms industries, HBCU students are making it clear they deserve to be part of the rooms where the next generation of technology is designed.

SocialSense AI is not just an app. It is a student-built solution that combines mental health awareness, communication development, wearable technology, artificial intelligence, and privacy.

That combination is exactly where the future is headed.

Morgan State’s national win is a reminder that the future of tech should not be built without HBCU voices. In this case, those voices did more than participate. They won.