Inside the 2026 Ivy Tech IT Challenge

2026-11-20 · 08:00:00

Organized by Ivy Tech Community College and TechPoint, this free statewide IT hackathon gathers Indiana college students to tackle business problems across technical tracks and connect with employers.

The 2026 Ivy Tech IT Challenge brings IT and computing students from colleges and universities across Indiana together for a statewide competition built around real business problems. Students compete in software development, cybersecurity, data analytics, and IT support tracks to demonstrate their abilities directly to Indiana employers. The one-day event features preliminary challenges, an interdisciplinary championship, and a career fair with resume reviews and mock interviews.

Founder brief

Who should attend

College and university students across Indiana studying computing or IT should register by the August 15, 2026 deadline. Whether newly enrolled or nearing graduation, participants gain direct access to regional companies seeking technical talent in software, security, analytics, and infrastructure.

What happens

Proceedings kick off at 08:00 with morning three-hour preliminary challenges tailored by local firms across software development, data analytics, cybersecurity, and IT support tracks. Afternoon sessions divide participants between an interdisciplinary championship challenge for top-performing teams and a dedicated career fair offering mock interviews, resume critiques, and employer presentations.

Who's in the room

Attendees will encounter computing peers from campuses across Indiana alongside hiring managers and representatives from regional businesses. Event partners TechPoint and Ivy Tech Community College facilitate the interaction, connecting participating employers directly with emerging developers, analysts, and engineers.

How to prepare

Bring updated physical copies of your resume for afternoon reviews and employer conversations. Polish your technical portfolio, ensure your development environment is set up beforehand, and practice articulating your problem-solving approaches clearly for both preliminary tasks and potential mock interviews.

Organizer: Ivy Tech Community College and TechPoint

Register

At a glance

Tickets
Free
Who can apply
Open to IT and computing students at any Indiana college or university, regardless of where they are in their program.
Sectors
Agnostic

Agenda

  1. Morning · Preliminary Challenges — Three-hour preliminary challenges in each discipline developed with an Indiana company.
  2. Afternoon · Interdisciplinary Championship Challenge — Top teams from each track advance to the championship challenge.
  3. Afternoon · Career Programming and Fair — Includes a career fair, resume reviews, mock interviews and employer information sessions for students not advancing to the championship.