Questions about the rules are addressed in Frequently Asked Questions.
Below is additional information that may be helpful to participants and advisers.
Rules
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Rules
Safety
During device testing, the top priority is safety. Judges are authorized to stop any activity they view as unsafe. Teams are expected to handle and operate their devices safely. The judges’ word is final on safety-related issues.
Spirit of the Challenge
The Tech Challenge emphasizes the importance of developing engineering solutions that would be practical in real life, otherwise known as the Spirit of the Challenge. For this challenge, teams should develop and document real-life solutions. They will need to demonstrate their assembled devices for the judges. Judges will also look to a team’s engineering journal for evidence of real-world application of the team’s solution.
Store-bought solutions are prohibited and not in the Spirit of the Challenge. Teams are encouraged to design and build devices using their own ideas and creativity. Use of existing plans for reference and inspiration is allowed. All plans, and the source of those plans, must be documented in the team Engineering Journal.
Updates to Rules
As The Tech Challenge progresses, participating teams and The Tech staff may discover that the rules must be updated. All changes will be posted on The Tech Challenge website, and registered teams will be notified by email regarding significant changes. Changes posted to the website will be labeled by date. Please check the website often for updates.
Judging Process
We know it can sometimes feel like performance is the most important thing but this year the engineering journal and interview will be front and center. The judges can’t wait to hear about what you’ve done and see how you’ve documented it.