Contest Description: The EMERF Motorized Ability Design Awards is a contest that invites North American undergraduate students to compete to have their design honored as an innovative mobility, accessibility or therapy development incorporating electric motors. Students will submit designs for judging by industry experts and professionals in the fields of electric motors, mobility, accessibility and/or therapy equipment. Submission & Judging Requirements Suggested Schedule Judging Process: Industry experts will be the judges of the contest, and they will evaluate each design submission in the following areas: Each submission will be awarded points, from 1 to 10, by each judge in each of the assessment categories. The submission with the highest overall point total (all areas) wins First Place. Second highest score wins Second Place. All rights to any Intellectual Property created will be retained by the respective Colleges and Universities. Announcements The winning teams, participating schools, EMERF constituents, and industry will be informed about the contest winners by EMERF by September 1, 2009. Winning teams will be notified by postal mail, email, and/or a phone call of congratulations. A letter will also be sent to key faculty of each participating school, announcing the winners. Press releases announcing the winners will also be distributed to relevant trade publications, education publications, and local media of the participating schools. Resolving Disputes Awards: Three prizes will be awarded in the following amounts: First Place: $5,000 minimum will be awarded to the winning school’s participating department on behalf of the winning student team. Second Place: To be announced. Third Place: To be announced. Teams a. There is no minimum or maximum number of teams per school. b. Limited to teams from colleges, universities and technical schools in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. c. Team size can vary…any size is acceptable, even one person. d. All team members must be enrolled in an undergraduate program during the semester(s)/term(s) they contribute to the design. Projects submitted by graduate students are not eligible. e. There are no age restrictions. f. Faculty may participate solely in an advisory role. Publicity Public Relations Website Finances: To eliminate barriers to entry and encourage participation in the contest, there is no registration fee from the students nor school. Educational Opportunities Course Credit Integration with Current Curriculum Rev. 5/10.27.08
Entries must be submitted online at www.EMERF.org (PDF format preferred, with links provided to video demonstrations), for distribution to judges. Each entry should include the following:
Following is a general schedule that may assist teams with their progress to ensure submission of entries are made by or on the deadline date, June 30, 2009:
Accuracy counts and student submissions should be carefully proofed for mistakes in spelling, grammar, and computations. All drawings, schematics, equations, and constants should be defined and labeled thoroughly and accurately, to help communicate to the reader the team’s concept.
Teams should emphasize the “utility” aspect of the contest, in terms of how their innovation helps others with their mobility, accessibility or rehabilitation. For example, how does it improve ones quality of life, make things easier to do, or more enjoyable.
Should no applicant meet the selection criteria, EMERF reserves the right to not award any prizes. EMERF retains all rights and control over the Motorized Ability Design Awards contest. All entries will be handled confidentially prior to the public announcement of winners.
The contest results will also be published in the SMMA member newsletter, EMERF and SMMA websites, and other relevant association publications and events.
The decision of the judges will be final and their evaluations will remain confidential.
The public relations effort will help increase awareness nationwide of the contest, the participating schools, and the winners through editorial coverage in academic publications, trade publications, related websites, plus local media. Of course, EMERF and SMMA publications will also run stories on the contest and winners.
Our website, www.EMERF.org, will help promote the contest, provide contest details and rules, enable teams to submit their entry online, and later feature the winning teams.
Offering credit hours to students for participating in the contest is encouraged. But this will be at each school’s discretion (not mandatory) and will need to be structured within the individual university’s coursework.
We suggest that your college or university utilize the contest within current curriculum to help increase participation. Senior Projects and other coursework requirements can be “freshened up” by using the contest.