Connect with our extensive network of industry Xperts through xFoundry. Benefit from mentorship, feedback, and guidance tailored to your team's needs, providing invaluable insights to enhance your project's development.
The courses in this program are specially designed with the competition in mind. Each course milestone and assignment is aligned with competition objectives, ensuring every effort contributes directly to your success.
Access powerful prototyping software to refine and develop your solutions, such as CATS2, Worlds.io, and aiXplain.
Applications are open!
Apply nowDesign a solution to bolster student resilience and mental health, enhancing success and retention in college environments.
Learn moreXplore is an annual event that launches each Xperience cohort at the University of Maryland. Bringing together a diverse mix of students, faculty, and staff from across campus, Xplore sets the stage for collaborative innovation and problem-solving.
Attendees cast their votes for the upcoming Xperience challenge topic. This collective decision-making process ensures that the chosen topic resonates with the community and reflects its priorities.
In this foundational course, you will learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and form your multidisciplinary teams for the rest of the competition. Your team will develop your business plan and prototype, then pitch your solution to advance to the next phase.
Course listing on Testudo →This unique methodology is at the core of the Xperience. It's all about continuous improvement and engaging students in hands-on experiences, followed by guided debriefing and reflection to extract meaningful insights. Not only will you gain theoretical knowledge, but you’ll also develop practical skills through real-world applications.
You'll form your multidisciplinary team from fellow students who participated in the spring course. Your team must have:
It’s competition time! Your team will build, test, validate, and sell your product while working with faculty and industry experts throughout the process. All teams are judged based on market viability, innovation, financial planning, and presentation skills. There can be multiple winners or no winner, adding an extra layer of excitement.
Course listing on Testudo →Teams will develop their minimum viable product (MVP) for the competition. Your team will leverage feedback and guidance from industry experts, mentors, and faculty advisors. The product should be fully functional and operational, with a well-defined target audience. Throughout Xcelerate, expert feedback, development and testing stipends, and access to development tools and systems will be provided to all competing teams.
As a winning team member, you're not just taking home the trophy–you're a co-founder, a member of the product team, complete with a salary and equity stake.
Graduating students from the winning team will have a chance to join the product team as co-founders, using their skills to drive innovation and be a part of the company's growth journey. Members of the winning team that will continue their studies later will have the same guaranteed conditions at the company after graduation.
Your venture will tackle one of the major problems facing our society. Now you will work with a network of seasoned CXOs for the next 12-18 months to help ensure a successful and stable start.