Challenge@PoliTo_by Firms is an innovative teaching activity carried out at the Politecnico di Torino. It is an integral part of the PoliTo's strategy to promote innovative education and entrepreneurial culture. These activities are organized with external firms that provide a "challenge" coming from their real business. During the experience, up to 30 master’s students divided into teams, work, compete and develop their own solutions. The Challenges are carried out in an experimental educational laboratory: the CLIK - Connection Lab & Innovation Kitchen, or a similar space. During the challenge phase, students can experiment and practice what they have learned during their university courses in an informal and multidisciplinary environment that promotes the spirit of creativity and collaboration. Challenge@PoliTo by Firms - Aruba Academy - “TrustChain: Blockchain-Powered Digital Certificates” Background Blockchain technologies are rapidly transforming the way trust, authenticity, and transparency are established within digital systems. Beyond cryptocurrencies, modern distributed ledgers and smart contracts enable secure and automated processes across various sectors, from education to healthcare, and finance to global supply chains. In this context, blockchain-based mechanisms, including smart contracts, decentralized validation, and tokenization technologies such as NFTs, open new opportunities to create reliable, verifiable, and tamper-resistant digital assets. Aruba Academy fits into this evolving scenario. As the corporate school of the Aruba Group, Italy's leading cloud provider and a leader in data center services, web hosting, and cloud solutions, it is actively exploring decentralized architectures and blockchain technologies to support the development of next-generation trusted digital services. Challenge Students are invited to design solutions based on blockchain technologies to integrate certification processes into secure and decentralized systems. The objective is to develop mobile, web, or desktop applications capable of issuing, tracking, and verifying digital certificates such as diplomas, quality certifications, health records, financial documents, and more. Solutions may leverage smart contracts, NFTs, Verifiable Credentials, or other blockchain-based mechanisms, combining on-chain and off-chain components to ensure security, reduce fraud, and guarantee data integrity through cryptographic trust.

The main goal is to involve students in learning initiatives capable of bridging the gap between the university's theory and the skills required by companies to work in a team. Entrepreneurial Culture: Promote the Entrepreneurial culture/behavior on the PoliTo Students. Multidisciplinary Teams: Collaborate in a complex and multidisciplinary context. Information research: Retrieval, Data collection and Utilization of information to support teamwork activities. Hard Skills: Put into practice what they have learned during their lectures to solve a real problem from partner firms. Soft Skills: Teamwork under conditions close to a real business environment, self-assessment and work organization. At the end of this activity, students will be more ready to work in a multidisciplinary team, a skill required by companies. They will be able to analyze industrial problems having a more comprehensive view of technical and market issues.

The Challenge activities are open to master’s student of the Politecnico di Torino. Students are required to verify if this specific Challenge recognizes credits for their degree programme. No specific competencies are required to participate. To apply to this activity, the student has to upload: ● Covering Letter in English: self-presentation and motivations of interest in the presented Challenge; ● Curriculum Vitae. The students' selection will be based on Cover Letter, CV and multidisciplinary required by the Challenge. The Challenges are arranged in English.

The Challenges of the first didactic period last 14 weeks; they start on September 2026 and end on January 2027. During Challenges, students have to work in multidisciplinary teams supported by a group of tutors, coming from the PoliTo and external partners, with complementary backgrounds and competencies, under the lead of Professor A. Lioy (DAUIN). Every team will self-organize its own working time and methodology. But they will have to spend about 1,5 hours/week, supported by mentors, in the N-Idee classroom, similar space or in remote, in addition to the joint alignment meetings (specified subsequently).

The event will take place at the N-Idee classroom located in the central building of the Politecnico di Torino (Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24), in a similar space or in a remote way, with the following program: ● Kick-Off & Team Formation: the partner company and tutors will hold a session on the Challenge's issues. There will be the Team Formation and Team Building phases to the establishment of multidisciplinary teams. Joint meeting of 2 days. ● Problem Analysis and Idea Creation: two weeks in which the teams will analyze the problem in detail. A team of mentors will support the teams through weekly meetings. ● Idea Presentation – 1st Work Progress: each team will present (by a pitch) the problem and the proposed solution. Joint meeting of half-day. ● Prototyping and Development: teams will meet at N-Idee classroom (or similar space or remote way) weekly to meet with mentors who will support the project's development. 11 weeks of teamwork. ● Two Mid-Check Presentations – 2nd and 3rd Work Progress: two half-day meetings on work progress during the Prototyping and Development phase. ● Final Presentation: the teams will present their projects through the pitch of the idea. Joint meeting of half-day at the end of the 14th week. Every team will self-organize its own working timeframe and methodology, but they will have to spend about 1,5 hours/week, supported by mentors, in the N-Idee classroom, in a similar space or remote. The Teams, during the Challenge, have to hand in the following deliverables: • Three ppts Work Progress: Pitches to explain achieved outcomes and next steps of the project, during work progress meetings; • One monthly report: a monthly report to describe achieved outcomes and next steps; • One ppt Final Presentation: final pitch, during the final presentation, to present the whole work; • One final report: final report about the whole work. A standard form will be provided. The explained structure is only an example; it could be modified during the Challenge.

Modalita di esame: Accertamento (esame senza voto);

Exam: Check;

... ● Kick-Off & Team Formation: the partner company and tutors will hold a session on the Challenge's issues. There will be the Team Formation and Team Building phases to the establishment of multidisciplinary teams. Joint meeting of 2 days. ● Problem Analysis and Idea Creation: two weeks in which the teams will analyze the problem in detail. A team of mentors will support the teams through weekly meetings. ● Idea Presentation – 1st Work Progress: each team will present (by a pitch) the problem and the proposed solution. Joint meeting of half-day. ● Prototyping and Development: teams will meet at N-Idee classroom (or similar space or remote way) weekly to meet with mentors who will support the project's development. 11 weeks of teamwork. ● Two Mid-Check Presentations – 2nd and 3rd Work Progress: two half-day meetings on work progress during the Prototyping and Development phase. ● Final Presentation: the teams will present their projects through the pitch of the idea. Joint meeting of half-day at the end of the 14th week. Every team will self-organize its own working timeframe and methodology, but they will have to spend about 1,5 hours/week, supported by mentors, in the N-Idee classroom, in a similar space or remote. The Teams, during the Challenge, have to hand in the following deliverables: • Three ppts Work Progress: Pitches to explain achieved outcomes and next steps of the project, during work progress meetings; • One monthly report: a monthly report to describe achieved outcomes and next steps; • One ppt Final Presentation: final pitch, during the final presentation, to present the whole work; • One final report: final report about the whole work. A standard form will be provided. The explained structure is only an example; it could be modified during the Challenge.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilita o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unita Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione piu idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.