TinkerHub Campus Leadership Programme 2026–27
Make your campus happen.
A year-long programme for college students who want to build maker communities in Kerala.
Be the reason people show up
Every year, TinkerHub brings together college students who want to make their campus a place to learn, build and belong. You don’t need to be a topper or a leader. Just curious.
Four residential camps
Meet your cohort, make a plan for your campus and discover how you want to lead.
People you can count on
Build lasting relationships with makers, mentors and alumni across Kerala’s active campuses.
Learn it. Then lead it.
Join study jams, workshops and hackathons as both a participant and an organiser.
Confidence in the unknown
Learn to bring people together and find a way forward as skills, jobs and the world change.
Learn by building. Lead by making room for others.
Your year ahead
- Apr 25, 2026: Online review. Shortlisted applicants meet the TinkerHub team.
- May, 3rd week: Selection Camp. An in-person residential camp selects the cohort.
- May 2026: Onboarding Camp. Philosophy, planning and campus goal-setting.
- May–Oct 2026: Building Season. Study Jams, Open Mics, Tink-Her-Hack, Useless Projects and campus events.
- Dec 2026: Winter Camp. Share across campuses and co-create the curriculum.
- Jan–Apr 2027: Sprint Season. Beyond the Blueprint, project showcases and community-building drives.
- May 2027: Summer Camp. Leadership, the next cohort’s vision and alumni integration.
- Jun 2027: Graduation. Celebrate the cohort, recognise the work and join the alumni network.
Less talk. More making.
Useless Projects
Build an idea that does not need a business case. No pitch deck, no pressure to be useful. Just the fun of bringing something wonderfully pointless to life.
Tink-Her-Hack
Kerala’s largest women-in-tech hackathon, held annually at campus and state level. A place to build, collaborate and make the maker community more inclusive.
Beyond the Blueprint
Hear from builders, founders and designers about their actual work: the choices, wrong turns and lessons that polished presentations leave out.
Study Jams
Multi-week learning cohorts in Python, product design, open source and more. Enough structure to finish, with room for college life.
Open Mics
Share what you are building, thinking about or excited by. You do not need a finished project or a polished presentation to take part.
Maker Stories
Document how people make things, including experiments and setbacks. The learning behind a project matters as much as the final result.
Community Building
Welcome new members, organise orientations, collaborate across campuses and bring chapters together. You shape what happens next.
Kerala has the curiosity
More campuses need a place to put it to work. That’s where a maker community comes in.
- 700+ engineering & arts colleges in Kerala. Most lack a structured maker community.
- 30,000+ TinkerHub members across Kerala. A shared appetite for learning and building.
- 50% women participating in events. An equitable maker movement by design.
- 75% first-time builders in programmes. You can start before you feel ready.
This year, we aim even bigger: 40,000+ young makers. More young people across Kerala learning by doing, building their first projects and finding a community to grow with.
It starts with someone
Suhana, Campus Lead
College of Engineering, Perumon
“It’s about taking the first step and learning slowly.”
Suhana saw her campus community grow as more curious students joined, tried new things and shared what they loved. Leading meant bringing people together, learning gradually and building something meaningful along the way.
Vivek Venugopal, Campus Lead · Best Campus
College of Engineering, Punnapra
“I build the kind of campus I want to find.”
Over two years, Vivek and his community worked through low participation, attendance friction and limited resources. They brought faculty on board, secured support, ran hardware sessions and created a makerspace. Their chapter earned Best Campus of the Month. It was a shared effort.
Devadath P R, Maker of the Month
From a curious first-year to a community regular
Devadath started as a first-time builder, then became someone the campus could rely on. He contributed to projects, mentored peers and helped a small group of regulars become a thriving chapter. That consistent curiosity earned him Maker of the Month.
Two prizes. Every month.
For the chapters and makers raising the bar.
- Campus of the Month: College of Engineering, Karunagappally (January 2025). For the chapter building the best place to learn.
- Maker of the Month: Aksa Rose (November 2025). For the student who keeps building and sharing.
In the press
- YourStory: The programme site highlights TinkerHub’s growth from a small student technology club into a youth-led maker movement changing how students approach learning and careers.
- India FOSS: The programme site describes recognition for a campus-first, peer-led technology-learning model that has spread across Kerala.
- TinkerHub Blog: The central idea: students thrive when they belong to a community that makes them want to learn. Campus leads create those communities.
Your campus. Your move.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You need to care enough to start.
- Tell us about yourself. Fill in the form with your campus, your motivation and a short video answer. Speak naturally about why you want to build a community. You do not need a rehearsed pitch.
- Have a conversation. Shortlisted applicants have a video call with the TinkerHub team about community, learning and what matters to them.
- Meet your potential cohort. At the residential selection camp, work through real challenges together and show how you lead. This is the final selection round.
View the application form or read the FAQ.
Come build with us
Got an idea for your campus? Email us or say hello on Instagram.