Jasper Group launches inaugural Cypher Academy

Thursday, three Jasper High School students received equipment, company swag and an overview of the Jasper Group culture as they were welcomed to the inaugural cohort of the Cypher Academy.

Cypher Academy is a technology-focused internship program that provides high school students with hands-on experience in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and business operations.

The company, through Hub19, reached out to the school corporation for the names of students who may be interested in the new internship. Through that connection, 11 candidates were screened, all very competitively, and three were selected to take part in the technology-focused program in its inaugural year.

According to Jasper Group’s Chief Information Officer Chad Harter, the program is an extension of the company’s mission and purpose. It is a coherent message across the company; they are building a business for future generations and the betterment of the community.

So, this is an investment in our community,” said Harter.

Mason Whaley, Cody Krips, and Hunter Fortwendel, all incoming seniors at Jasper High School, were chosen based on their academic performance in Advanced Placement classes and demonstrated interest in computer science.

Beginning next semester, the three will work at Jasper Group several hours each afternoon during the school year. The program includes an initial training period of approximately six weeks before students begin working on capstone projects.

All three acknowledged they were seeking this type of experience-based training and were excited to work with Jasper Group.

“It’s just such a nice opportunity that we have this here,” said Cody. “Like most people can’t get it unless they’re like a huge city or something like that.”

Jasper Group’s technology initiatives extend beyond traditional furniture manufacturing. The company recently completed a partnership with Indiana University to use artificial intelligence to modernize engineering drawings and automate part-creation processes.

“We’ve got a lot of disparate engineering drawings throughout our company just because of acquisitions over the years,” Harter explained. “We can take JPEGs, just drawings, just drawing files, and using machine learning and AI, pull out all the measurements where all the screw holes need to be, grommet holes, grain direction.”

The first batch of 9,000 drawings processed through this AI system saved the company five months of manual work, which would have required employees to manually enter measurements and specifications.

He sees the students as partners in potentially streamlining another process or incorporating something they create into the company’s business culture as part of their capstone project.

Though Harter has some ideas on what that capstone project could be, he hopes that whatever they create lives on beyond their internship. “If it’s good, we might put it in production, and they can leave a legacy,” Harter said.

The program operates under Jasper Group’s stated purpose of “building a business for the next generation,” which guides company decision-making and community investments.

Company leadership frames the program as a long-term workforce investment rather than a short-term initiative. Russ Sage, Vice President of Human Resources, said the expectation is that it will take several years before the program produces candidates ready to return to Jasper Group as full-time employees.

“We figure it’s going to take four years or so to start seeing some of those kids want to come back,” Sage said. “It becomes something that benefits the student — and it really starts benefiting us.”

“This is an extension of our purpose,” Harter added.