Team building session

Team Wars: The First-Year Ultimate Challenge. 

The Department of Computer Science hosted "Team Wars: The First-Year Ultimate Challenge," a high-energy team building session for first-year students of the BSc Psychology and Computer Science dual-major programme, on 18th August 2026. Held in Classroom 1103 from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM, the session brought together 48 students, divided into six teams of eight, for an event built around one simple mission: think together, work together, adapt together, and have fun together. The format

combined six back-to-back challenges, each testing a different facet of collaboration, from quick decision-making to nonverbal coordination and creative performance. The session opened with Round 1, "Create Your Squad," where each team had seven minutes to choose a team name, craft a slogan, and elect a captain, before presenting themselves to the room in a rapid 30-second spotlight. This set the tone for the challenges to follow — a mix of communication, creativity, and quick thinking designed to push teams out of their comfort zones. Round 2, "Don't Say a Word," tested nonverbal coordination. With no talking, writing, phones, or touching allowed, teams had to arrange themselves by height and then by the alphabetical order of their first names, relying entirely on gestures and improvised signals. In Round 3, "Human Machine," teams received a scenario — ranging from "A University Controlled by AI" to "A University of 1990" — and had just five minutes to prepare a 60-second performance using movement, sound, and gesture, with every member required to participate. Round 4, "Classroom Heist," turned the room into a mystery. Each team received an envelope of clues after being told the university's secret trophy had been stolen, and had to solve a chain of puzzles — bringing each answer to a facilitator to unlock the

next clue — racing to be the first to recover the trophy. Round 5, "Impossible Decision," asked teams to design the "University of the Future" with a budget of one crore rupees, choosing only five features from options like AI classrooms, a startup fund, a research lab, and a wellness centre — forcing quick prioritization and negotiation within the group. The final round, "30-Second Chaos," handed each team an everyday object — a pen, a stapler, a water bottle — and challenged them to turn it into "the greatest invention in human history" through a 30-second advertisement featuring a dramatic salesperson, a news reporter, a customer, and an expert. Throughout the event, teams operated under a shared set of golden rules: everyone participates, every team is respected, listening comes before deciding, and creativity is encouraged. Winners were recognised across categories including Team Wars Champion, Most Energetic Team, Best Problem Solvers, Most Entertaining Team, and Best Leader, ensuring that recognition extended beyond just the top-scoring team. Beyond the games themselves, Team Wars gave the newest members of the BSc Psychology and Computer Science dual-major programme a memorable, activity-driven introduction to collaboration, communication, and quick problem-solving under time pressure — skills that will serve them well across both disciplines. It also offered an early opportunity for the newly formed batch to break the ice, build friendships, and find their footing as a cohort right at the start of their college journey. As the session's closing message put it, "a good team is not one where everyone thinks alike, but one where everyone gets a chance to contribute."