The competition is open to students in grades 9 through 12; who attend a public, charter, or private school, a career and technical education center, or a student being homeschooled in Pennsylvania.
Registered teams that do not produce a submission and compete in the state competition will be required to return the full stipend amount as noted on the webpage. Please review the additional information and how to remit those funds.
No. Registered teams will receive a one-time $600 stipend to cover the costs of materials for their project/prototype. Any team that drops out prior to the competition will be required to return the stipend in its entirety.
A team consists of up to five (5) students in grades 9-12.
Yes. Please contact your regional intermediate unit for more information.
There are 29 Intermediate Units operating across Pennsylvania. Map of IU locations by region across Pennsylvania.
Yes. We are aware of the boundaries related to intellectual property. While we certainly understand that there are opportunities for certain projects/prototypes to be under patent review, please note that you might be asked questions by the judges you may be unable to answer. In this case, please notify and send appropriate documentation to the IU competition coordinator prior to the competition.
Yes. Part of the development, research, testing, and iteration of your device/prototype requires a local business, higher education institution, or community organization connection to be made.
Your team is required to remain within the $600 stipend for the competition. If your team should receive any donated materials, the cost(s) of any materials must be noted in your budget summary and deducted from the stipend.
It is highly recommended that each team documents their journey throughout the development of their project or prototype using multimedia platforms/devices. This will be helpful when creating your digital poster. Teams will be provided with a rubric for their digital poster. Engineering Journals are no longer required as a component of the project submissions.
Teams may put any unused money from the stipend towards enhancement of their school district's STEM and/or Computer Science programs.
Yes. Please note that due to the nature of the content you will be researching and presenting, teams are required to follow APA formatting. Visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab for help with formatting and style.
Mechanisms should be primarily autonomous. Remote control is permitted to initiate a command, but not control the function of a task.
Yes, as long as there is substantial evidence of the project being enhanced and altered from its prior submission. The project also needs to align with the current year's theme for the competition.