IEEEXtreme^[1] (often abbreviated as Xtreme) is an annual hackathon and competitive programming challenge in which teams of IEEE Student members, often supported by an IEEE Student Branch and proctored by an IEEE member, compete in a 24-hour time span against each other to solve a set of programming problems. The competition is underwritten and coordinated by IEEE's Membership and Geographic Activities department, and is often supported by partnering sponsors, like IEEE Computer Society.

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (July 2020)

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. (July 2020)

IEEEXtreme was created in 2006 by Marko Delimar and Ricardo Varela^[2] who, at the time, were with the IEEE Student Activities Committee. The first instance of IEEEXtreme was held in 2006 with a global participation of 44 teams and 150 contestants. The numbers more than tripled the second time it was held, in 2008, to 130 teams with 500 participants.^[3] The iteration of IEEEXtreme in 2015, enjoyed the registration of over 2,300 teams,^[4] participation of over 1,900 teams, 5,500+ student competitors, 600+ proctors, and 100+ volunteers around the world.

Teams of up to three student IEEE members receive sets of programming problems over 24 hours, starting at 0:00 UTC on the competition date. All teams receive the same problems to solve and are expected to solve the problems without direct outside consultation. Teams don’t need to tackle every problem, but the more they solve, the more points they score. Students submit their solutions using an online tool, which has been HackerRank in recent years. Points are awarded based on how the problem was solved, the time it took, and its difficulty. Higher-grade IEEE members serve as judges and proctors for the competition.

The competition is free, but IEEE Student Membership is required to participate. Students - undergraduate and graduate - are welcome to register as IEEE Student Members and participants in IEEEXtreme on the same day. The cost of IEEE Student Membership varies from country to country.

^[5]

• Competitive programming, a type of mind sport involved in programming competitions