The following criteria will be used for judging:

(Regional Inventors Fair Guidelines with inclusion of STEMIE national guidelines)

Invention Process

• Listing Problems that Interest You • Define the Who, What & Why of the Problem Who has the problem or need? What is the problem or need? Why is it important to solve? • Review Existing Solutions and Brainstorm New, Better Solutions Scientific research if applicable Verify originality and perform an “Intellectual Property” search Learning from the experience of others can help you learn about existing solutions to similar problems and to avoid mistakes that were made in the past.                                                                                Learn from users and potential consumers (customers). • Designing, Building & Testing & Refining Determine the important characteristics that your solution must meet to be successful.                                                                                                                                                                                                       Take advantage of analyzing similar, existing product(s).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Select the solution that meets your design requirements the best.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Challenge yourself to refine and improve the simplicity, ergonomics, and benefits of your solution.                                                                                                                                                                                   Prove your invention solves the problem more effectively and efficiently.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Keep good notes (a log) of all your progress and failures!

Invention Impact for the individual or the greater good

• Market Potential • Value Proposition Is it affordable and durable? Can it be used for multiple purposes? • Social Value How does it improve the quality of life for a person? for society? • Environmental impact

Inventor Communication

• Logbook Written notes of all steps in the process, dates for each, and recording any help from others (name and what type of help he/she provided) • Display Board Exhibit space 32 inch length by 18 inch depth by 36 inch height (standard 3-fold display board) • Prototype or Model Size matters! The prototype or model must fit within the display space or under directly under the table. Use videos or smaller models of larger inventions to fit the exhibit space and to show any motion or function. • Presentation – The Live Pitch to the judges & questions and answers that may be discussed

DON’T FORGET…

Prepare your exhibit display board. See the Exhibit Display page for display guidelines.

Remember what you will need to bring to Check-In day: your Log Book, your exhibit display board, prototype and other display items.

 

Recommended Best Practices

“The crux of the design process is creating a satisfactory solution to a need. The need may be to improve an existing situation or to eliminate a problem. In any case, it is what engineering is all about—using knowledge and know-how to achieve a desired outcome.” Lee Harrisberger, Engineersmanship… The Doing of Engineering Design Engineering (Invention) projects involve creative problem solving, and they are not hypothesis testing. Each engineering design , software application or device project should have a clear engineering goal which can fit the following model statement: “The design and construction of a (engineered product) for (target user) to do (some useful function).”