IFI for Faculty

  • Open to every course, every discipline
  • A ready-made real-world project option. No need to build one from scratch
  • No formal curriculum change required
Talk to CSREI About Your Course Apply to Mentor

What Is IFI Challenge?

IFI Challenge is CSREI's university-wide initiative connecting students to real-world problems each fall. Open to every major and experience level, teams identify a real problem, complete a structured Problem Framing Brief, and develop a responsible early-stage solution. The Challenge culminates in a judged Demo Day each December.

Standout projects can continue into IFI Lab each spring, where the strongest work becomes a real, deployed pilot alongside an implementation partner.

Why This Might Fit Your Course

If your course already includes a project, case study, or applied-learning component, an IFI Challenge problem can be a drop-in real-world alternative. It provides structure, mentorship, and a public Demo Day already built around it.

The Ask and the Offer

What We're Asking

  • Take a look at the IFI Challenge timeline and see if it fits somewhere in your course
  • If it does, let students know an IFI project could count toward a course requirement.
  • Consider serving as a IFI mentor, if you're interested

What You Get

  • A ready-made, real-world project structure for your course. No need to build one from scratch
  • Real problems, some sourced from CSREI's implementation partners, not hypothetical case studies
  • Structured support for students outside class: mentorship, workshops, and a judged Demo Day
  • A path for standout student work to continue into a real pilot through IFI Lab

None of this requires a formal curriculum change. The current model works alongside existing courses, at each faculty member's discretion.

Key Dates for Fall

The two dates most relevant to aligning a course: when IFI Challenge opens, and when student work is presented.

September
IFI Challenge Launches
December
Challenge Demo Day

Next Step

A short conversation to talk through your course and whether an IFI Challenge project could be a fit: csrei@wpunj.edu