Stratasys is taking submissions for its twelfth annual Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge. The challenge is open to students in engineering, architecture and art and design to create or refine a product that will improve how to accomplish a specific task. The object must be achievable and mechanically sound, and it will be evaluated on its mechanical design, creativity, usefulness, aesthetics and description.
Entrants should design their products using 3D CAD software and submit those designs in STL format along with an essay or video describing its usefulness to Stratasys online by February 4, 2016. The categories for submitting entries are Secondary Education Engineering for middle and high school students, Post-Secondary Engineering for university students and Art or Architecture for any grade level.
The winners receive a $2,500 scholarship while their instructors will be given a 3D printer to use in the classroom for a limited period of time (the details on the exact amount of time are vague). Second-place contestants are awarded a $1,000 scholarship, and the remaining top 10 contestants will receive a Stratasys apparel item. Regional semi-finalists will have their design 3D printed for them, and all contestants will get an Extreme Redesign t-shirt. So far, Stratasys has given out more than $130,000 in scholarships over the 12 years they have conducted the challenge.
This year, Stratasys added a new category called “Make a Difference” wherein students are asked to design a product that has a positive effect on individuals, communities or the environment. The winner takes home a $1,500 scholarship. Further, the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers is awarding one of its post-secondary engineering submissions from a member school a $1,000 scholarship. NCATC, a network of higher education resources, enhances workforce and economic development programs by promoting the applications of technology.
Though Stratasys benefits with a higher profile in the education sector, students should welcome any help with education costs. The average student loan debt is climbing insanely high. According to Forbes magazine, in 2005 the average U.S. student loan debt was $17,233, but by 2012 it had climbed to $27,253 — a 58 percent increase. As of May 2013, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau estimated that outstanding debt was approaching $1.2 trillion. They also estimate that student loans guaranteed or held by the federal government have now crossed the $1 trillion mark. And there is no escape. Student loans are not affected by bankruptcy and can land people in jail or have them be subjected to wage garnishing.
If you are interested or know someone who would enter this contest, check out the Extreme Redesign page on stratasys.com for more information.
Last year’s winners:
Art and Architecture
· First place: Helix-Shaped Sharpener, Haya Alnibari and Ti Fu, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
· Second place: The Subspace, Hou Shun Poh, National University of Singapore, Singapore
· Third place: Prismatic, Ashley Christensen and Lauren Aquilina, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Secondary Education Engineering
· First place: HUNCH 2015 Zero Gravity Scale, Thomas Vagnini, Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA
· Second place: Zero Gravity Mixer, Joshua Fuller, Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA
· Third place: Socket Cube Concept, Li Cheng Yu, Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Post-Secondary Engineering
· First place: Cooling with Heat, Melanie Gralow and Lena Heemann, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
· Second place: Flex Key, Mahan Navabi and Mark Eyk, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
· Third place: Ice Twist, Alexandre Beznogov and Jossef Roozitalab Shirazi, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada