Mphasis, Plaksha University Host TrackShift Innovation Challenge

Bengaluru | September 15, 2026: Mphasis Foundation, in partnership with Plaksha University, hosted the second edition of the TrackShift Innovation Challenge on September 12–13, bringing together more than 180 undergraduate and postgraduate students from across India to work on applications of artificial intelligence, mobility and intelligent systems.

Held at the Plaksha University campus, the 24-hour applied innovation challenge was developed as part of Mphasis’ multi-year association with the TGR Haas F1 Team. Students used computer vision, data science and predictive modelling to develop proofs of concept based on engineering challenges from elite motorsport.

The initiative received more than 3,600 applications, including students from IITs, NITs, IIIT-Hyderabad, BITS Pilani and regional and tier 2–3 institutions. About one-third of applicants were female students.

This year’s challenge featured three problem statements: Energy & Overtake Intelligence, focused on real-time energy deployment and overtake decisions; Track Limits Detection, involving AI-based identification of violations using computer vision and car telemetry; and Tyre Degradation Intelligence, aimed at predicting tyre performance while accounting for external variables.

“Motorsport brings together some of the most complex challenges in engineering, data and technology, and TrackShift allows students to engage with these challenges from a practical perspective. By working on problems inspired by the realities of motorsport, participants were able to apply their technical knowledge, explore new approaches and develop solutions that have relevance beyond the track. It was particularly interesting to observe how the students approached this year’s challenges and the fresh perspectives they brought to these complex engineering problems,” said Jason Kew, Head of Information, TGR Haas F1 Team.

“The TGR Haas F1 Team partnership gives TrackShift something rare: engineering problems with real stakes and real complexity. What excites me is that students from IITs and from tier 2 colleges across India are sitting in the same room, working on the same hard problems that professionals at the frontier of motorsport technology deal with every day. That is exactly the kind of talent pipeline India's technology industry needs and the kind Mphasis is committed to building,” said Veda Iyer, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Head of Hyperscalers & Strategic Partnerships, and Head Sales- APAC, Mphasis.

"Engineers are shaped by the problems they are given. TrackShift puts that belief to the test every year, and this edition, with its focus on overtake intelligence, track limit detection and tyre degradation intelligence, pushed students into the kind of complexity our industry partners deal with daily. That is the standard we want our graduates to be ready for,” said Prof. M. Balakrishnan, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Plaksha University.

The winning teams were Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, which secured first place; Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering (YCCE), Nagpur, which won second place; and Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, Delhi, which secured third place. The teams received cash prizes of ₹1 lakh, ₹50,000 and ₹25,000, respectively, along with mentorship-based internships at Mphasis.

The top three teams will also receive a fully sponsored visit to the TGR Haas F1 Team facility in the UK. Selected participants will undertake internships of up to two months at Mphasis, receiving mentoring while working on live AI and innovation projects. Solutions developed during the challenge will be made available through an open repository on the TrackShift website.