The ultimate proving ground for top student talent.
Hands-on learning opportunities that promote peer and professional networking, in a competition-based environment.
Hands-on learning opportunities that promote peer and professional networking, in a competition-based environment.
Xtern Challenge is a series of hackathons, design sprints, and case competitions where students collaborate on real-world business problems designed by Indiana companies and work alongside industry mentors.
These events give students a chance to apply their classroom knowledge to practical challenges while learning new tools, gaining feedback from professionals, and building their experience to help them land their next opportunity in tech.
Each challenge is a unique opportunity for students to develop their skills, allow them to network with other college students and industry professionals, and compete to earn cash prizes with their team.
Students will work collaboratively in teams to solve a challenge. Teams will be designed by TechPoint staff to ensure balanced skillsets and education levels. You cannot request teammates—part of the experience is getting to know other students!
You must be currently enrolled at an Indiana university in either an undergraduate or graduate level. If an undergraduate, you must be a sophomore or above to participate. There are limited spots for international students available. You must be nominated by your school in order to participate.
Topic 1
In this backend-focused challenge, students will be placed on interdisciplinary teams and tasked with designing agentic AI architecture and systems for a hypothetical Fortune 200 company. This prompt moves beyond customer-facing chatbots and focuses on AI agents completing tasks within an enterprise-level organization.
Teams will focus on:
Teams will be designed with these skillsets in mind:
Topic 2
In this human-centered challenge, students will be placed on interdisciplinary teams and tasked with designing deployable AI tools embedded within human workflows in an enterprise-level organization. Teams will build a working AI-assisted service-engineering workflow using LLMs to support the day-to-day work of junior field technicians.
Teams will focus on:
Teams will be designed with these skillsets in mind:
A total of 100 students will be selected across both challenge tracks.
Teams will be scored by a panel of Cummins judges. First-, second-, and third-place prizes will be awarded for both challenge tracks, along with additional honorable mention awards.
Prize winnings are distributed by TechPoint via check following the Challenge.
Click below to complete the application to determine if you’re a fit for the Cummins Xtern Challenge. You must be a currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student to participate.
Being an Xtern Challenge partner allows you to have access to in-demand talent and to opportunities to promote your brand and industry to higher education institutions across the state. You’ll have a team at TechPoint to support you at every step of the way.
Xtern Challenge Partners are Indiana companies interested in supporting the next generation of tech talent in Indiana. Xtern Challenge Partners co-design the prompt, deliverables, and format of the Challenge with the TechPoint team to ensure this event fits your business problem. We’ll work with you on all event logistics, marketing and branding needs, and recruit students who fit the needs of your organization to participate.
In this recap of our first Xtern Challenge, see how students worked together to apply their skills in a real business environment.
We know you have amazing students at your institutions—and we need your help to invite them to participate in our next Challenge.
Join the TechPoint higher education mailing list by clicking below. We’ll share information with your institution when we’re ready to invite you to nominate students to compete in the next Challenge.
Our team will then reach out directly to nominated students and invite them to complete our full application.
Benefits for student participants:
