D2.2: National Student Design Competition

Year 5 (2007-2008): Contest Rules

Projects can be started during the Fall or Spring semester and take either 1 or 2 semesters to complete, but must be completed by the end of the Spring semester. Projects are considered on a first-come, first-funded basis starting early September, with early submission advised. At least ten (10) design projects will be funded each year. A university/school may submit up to three team projects, one in each design area, for the competition. Participating in this competition does not eliminate participation in other programs.

To enter the competition, the student team and faculty advisor must submit an email letter of intent to:

Dr. John D. Enderle
Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut
Email: jenderle@bme.uconn.edu
Phone: (860) 486-5521

The one-page letter of intent should include a brief description of the project and how the team proposes to approach its design, the anticipated project completion date, and contact information for the faculty advisor and team members. Letters will be evaluated as they are received, and a response will be provided within two weeks of submission. 

Student teams accepted into the competition will receive reimbursements up to $2,000 for the project. The money provided by the RERC on AMI is intended to fund construction of a working prototype of the device. No other money may be used to support the project without prior approval by Dr. Enderle. To receive funds, the faculty advisor should send requests to Dr. Enderle with original receipts and a departmental invoice, in roughly $500 increments. An “up-front” request for an initial $500 can be made as long as the institution making the request has established an account for these funds and promises to follow up with expenditure documentation.

For the competition, each team must create a website that will be used to evaluate the design and to help select the winners of the competition. At a minimum, the website should contain a final report, detailed photos and a digital video clip of the project in action (maximum file size is 20 Mb). The final report, limited to 25 pages, should fully describe the project including detailed drawings and photographs, full engineering analysis of the preferred design and at least one alternative design, consideration of accessible/universal design principles (for details, see http://www.rerc-ami.org/ami/projects/d/2/udg/) and how the design addresses the needs of the hypothetical clients, plus an accounting of all expenses incurred to build the prototype and a projected cost to produce a manufactured product. The cost to produce the project will be a factor in judging; no project will be eligible for a prize if over $2000 was used to build the prototype. For full credit, the project should be tested with representative intended users, with feedback used to improve the project. If a team uses intellectual property from other teams or websites, appropriate acknowledgement must be given. The website should be easy to view and to navigate from page to page, and follow web accessibility guidelines (http://www.w3.org/WAI/). Appropriate terminology should be used when describing people with disabilities and assistive technologies (see http://www.lsi.ku.edu/lsi/internal/guidelines.html). All completed projects will be evaluated in May or June 2007 by a team of judges external to the RERC on AMI. The winners will be contacted directly and the results will be posted at the RERC website (http://www.rerc-ami.org/). The top three projects will receive monetary awards: first prize: $1000, second prize: $750, and third prize: $500. In addition, all entries are eligible to receive an award of up to $500 to cover registration/travel to present a paper on the design if it is accepted and published in proceedings at a major conference.

Contest rules as pdf document