Competitions

Submissions are open. Abstract deadline: February 4, 2022.

Undergraduates are invited to submit design projects to SAME to show off your talent for innovative thinking. Winners will be recognized by SAME and all eligible entries will be marketed to SAME's private sector members to highlight your problem-solving capabilities.

Download the instructions and submission form here.

Summary

SAME student members represent the next generation of innovative STEM thinkers ready to take on society’s challenges. For this reason, the Society is hosting an undergraduate innovation challenge to identify and recognize their great ideas. The competition was developed to utilize design projects students developed as part of the degree curriculums of SAME student members.

A major part of project design is communicating the project’s purpose and utility, and describing the design process to others, including colleagues, superiors, outside clients, or the general public. Effective communication is key to expressing the importance of your work to relevant stakeholders. This competition emphasizes that importance. With a focus on the utility of the design and the ability to bring it to market, the competition highlights the innovative thinking of SAME student members.

Three top projects will be identified by the review panel made up of SAME industry members. The project team for each top project split a $500 award and present their concept to SAME industry members.

Introduction

A major part of project design is communicating the project’s purpose and utility, and describing the design process to others, including colleagues, superiors, outside clients, or the general public. Effective communication is key to expressing the importance of your work to relevant stakeholders. This competition is meant to emphasize that importance. It builds on design projects you may be developing as part of degree curriculums. With a focus on the utility of the design and the ability to bring it to market, we hope to highlight the innovative thinking of SAME student members.

Submissions in this competition will be evaluated on how well they convey the purpose of the project and its technical merit. Your task is to concisely communicate your design process and demonstrate that you have used sound analysis throughout and do so in a way that is easily understandable to technical and non-technical audiences. This document will outline the expectations for each team and submission as well as the grading rubric that will be used to evaluate your work.

All eligible projects will be posted on the SAME webpage and promoted to our industry members as possible R&D candidates. The top three teams will be awarded a $500 prize and be asked to present to an SAME audience.

Team Requirements

All team members should be undergraduate-level students AND student members of SAME. Student membership in SAME is free to all students through the undergraduate level. Learn more about joining SAME as a student member.

Team sizes should have between 3-6 members. Expected submission topics will be based on capstone or design projects. All submissions must include the names of each of the team members, emails, year, and SAME membership number.

Submissions

Submission 1 – Abstract Submission – 300-500 words
Your abstract should summarize the key concepts, purpose, initial conclusions, and an overview of the science or engineering principles and results from your work. Think of this as a written elevator pitch; your abstract should be able to quickly showcase the importance of the great work that you are doing along with highlighting significant supporting information and descriptions. Additional details on areas to expand on are included in the Submission Discussion Topics section.

Submission 2 – PowerPoint Presentation Submission
Your presentation will consist of 5-10 slides that will outline the progression of your design project from concept and design, to planning, to analysis, and finally to the project build itself (or calculated results if your capstone project does not involve any physical construction). Additional details on areas to expand on are included in the Submission Discussion Topics section. Your slide deck should include a 5-10 minute audio narration overlay recorded into your presentation. More detailed instructions will be provided to teams advancing to phase 2.

Where do I submit?

Teams will submit their abstract in phase 1 using the submission form. (Download the submission form.) Teams advancing to phase 2 will be giving additional instructions for submitting their PowerPoints.

SAME reserves the right to use any portion of a team’s submission in online and print marketing. Winning teams will need to provide a headshot for SAME promotional use. Instructions will be provided.

Submission Topics Discussion

For both submissions, the following areas should be discussed concerning your projects:

Introduction
- A very brief introduction to your project, describing what it is and its significance. Assume the audience is familiar with your project
Engineering and Physical Analysis
- Provide an overview of the engineering principles that guided your work along with any pertinent results.
- For the PowerPoint Presentation submission, present the fully formulated and solved analyses of your project
  - Include supporting assumptions, figures, and physical laws/equations used
Concept Evaluation and Selection
- Describe your concept evaluation process
- For the PowerPoint Presentation, show and describe your chosen design concept
Project Planning
- For the PowerPoint Presentation, present your design plan from concept to build phase of the project, with incremental tasks, realistic timeline, and milestones
Embodiment Design
- Describe and illustrate the details of the final design for your project.
- For the PowerPoint Presentation, provide relevant figures, pictures, CAD models, etc. of your final work and discuss your build process
- Identify manufacturing methods to be utilized in creating your final product and any other assembly or implementation considerations

Timeline of Competition

4 February 2022: Phase 1 Abstract Submission Deadline
23 February 2022: Teams Advancing to Phase 2 Notified
25 March 2022: Phase 2 PowerPoint Presentation Submission Deadline
15 April 2022: Top 3 Teams Notified
TBD May 2022: The top three teams will be invited to present to SAME.

Three top teams will be chosen and recognized by SAME. The winning teams will receive a $500 award.

Selection

The attached rubric will be used to select the abstracts advancing to the PowerPoint phase and again to select the final three submission from the PowerPoint phase.

The review committee will be composed of SAME industry and government members, and members of the College Outreach Community of Interest.

Top 3 Submissions

If your project is selected to present, you will have the opportunity to update your PowerPoint presentation before your presentation to SAME. Use of your capstone project presentation for your school is perfectly acceptable but will need to be tailored to fit the presentation window. More presentation information will be provided when the winners are announced. Stay tuned!

Submission Grading Rubric

Category	PTS
The team described their design project well and concisely	10
The team described their engineering analyses in an appropriate level of detail	10
The team followed a systematic process for evaluating and selecting their final concept	10
The team described their build process and project development well	10
The team accurately described/presented their final project well	10
The team provided an appropriate level of engineering analysis and technical detail	10
The project provides an innovative solution to an engineering problem	10
The project describes/resulted in a highly marketable product	10
The structure and grammar of the submission was professional	10
The submission was on time and included all of the required information	10
Total	100

Questions

If you have any questions about the competition or how to submit, please contact Jeannine Finton (jfinton@same.org), STEM Coordinator.

Download the instructions and submission form. Deadline is February 4, 2022.

2020-21 Submissions

Eight projects were submitted for consideration, with three top projects identified by the review panel made up of SAME industry members. The project team for each top project split a $500 award and were offered an opportunty to present their concept to SAME industry members. Congratulations to all the submitting teams!!

Title of Project	School Name	Summary
A Study of Sea Level Rise and Designs for Coastal Resiliency in Boston--TOP PROJECT!	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Prepare a sea-level rise analysis for Boston that recommends mitigation actions based on a 48" sea level increase, including flood barriers and resident relocation.
Clean Energy Deer Repellent (C.E.D.R.)--TOP PROJECT!	Florida State University Panama City	Create a device that can detect and deter deer and other animals from crossing into the path of oncoming traffic, to reduce animal/vehicle collisions.
Vent2Go--TOP PROJECT!	The Citadel	Create a low-budget ventilator powered by a standard wall outlet, that can be used from children to large adults.
Arm for All	The Citadel	Develop a robotic arm that can communicate in ASL, and conduct small household and industrial tasks.
Emergency LoRa Radio System(YouTube link)	Gulf Coast State College	Create an app operated emergency radio that operates with cellular service that can be used to communicate during natural disasters.
LoraWAN Radio Design	Gulf Coast State College	Create an app operated emergency radio that operates without cellular service, that communicates with other radios, and can be paired with antenna for additional coverage for use in natural disasters.
The Handy Helper	The Citadel	Develop a robotic arm able to communicate in ASL with multi-directional wrist action.
Tunnel Tech Water Tunnel	The Citadel	Build a portable water tunnel that can be transported from school to school to teach fluid dynamics, targeting low-income areas.