Build Studio

Get Involved

Whether you're a student, a company, or a practitioner, there's a place for you in Build Studio. Find your path below.

🎓

Students

Undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines.

  • Enroll in BAI 411: Build Studio
    Available Fall 2027 · 3 credits · No prerequisites
  • Compete in the Build Sprint
    Every semester · All disciplines welcome · No coding experience required
  • Join the Organizing Team
    Help plan and run the Build Sprint · Student-led
🏢

Companies

Organizations with real problems and an interest in working with student builders.

  • Submit a Build Studio Challenge
    A team works on your problem for a full semester → working prototype + handoff
  • Submit a Build Sprint Challenge
    Teams tackle your challenge in one day · Public datasets or your own brief
  • Serve as a Build Sprint Judge
    Attend the final session (3–5 PM) · Evaluate pitches · Help select winners
  • Join the Advisory Council
    Shape curriculum · Sponsor challenges · Mentor student teams
  • Appear on the Podcast
    Sponsors appear on camera — challenge reveal, midpoint check-in, final verdict
💼

Practitioners & Faculty

Experts who want to bring real-world perspective into the studio.

  • Join the Advisory Council
    Founding council forming now · Advise on curriculum & challenges
  • Guest-Critique a Sprint
    One-time or recurring · Bring a practitioner lens to Sprint 1, 2, or Final
  • Co-teach or Advise
    Partner with us on curriculum design or advise a Build Studio team
  • Be a Podcast Guest
    Founders, engineers, researchers, innovators — talk honestly about building
For Companies

How to submit a challenge

A good challenge brief is short, specific, and grounded in a real business need. Here's what we're looking for.

🎯

A real business context

What does your organization do? What part of the business does this challenge relate to?

A clear problem statement

What specific problem or opportunity would you like teams to address? What would success look like?

📊

Data or domain guidance

Can teams use public datasets? Do you have a preferred domain or industry context? (Proprietary data not required.)

💡

AI opportunity

Where do you see AI adding genuine value? What kind of system or tool would be most useful?

Example Challenge Brief

A retail bank receives thousands of customer inquiries through its chatbot about various issues, but the chatbot does not always correctly understand customer requests or generate insights about emerging customer needs. Design an AI-enabled system that improves how the chatbot interprets and responds to customer queries while generating useful insights for the bank. Teams may use datasets such as Banking77, which contains over 13,000 customer queries across 77 banking intents. The solution should include either a software artifact or a system proposal and a business case explaining how it could improve customer service, reduce support costs, or create new business opportunities.

Submit Your Challenge

Email us a brief description and we'll follow up to scope it together.

Contact

Get in touch

👨‍🏫

Aron Lindberg

Associate Professor, Information Systems
Build Studio Director

aron.lindberg@stevens.edu
Course · Advisory Council · Company Partnerships
👩‍🏫

Jingyi Sun

Stevens School of Business
Build Sprint Coordinator

jsun54@stevens.edu
Hackathon · Student Organizing Team

Build Studio is open to everyone.

Real challenges. Real teams. Real products. Join us.