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About the Contest
Enter the Windows Embedded Student ChallengE
The Windows Embedded Student ChallengE invites undergraduate teams of four, with a faculty mentor, to design a computer-based system that solves a real-world problem. Microsoft® organizes the competition in association with IEEE's Computer Society International Design Competition. Registration closed February 6, 2005, we are not accepting new registrations. Below are answers to frequently asked questions to help you get started:
What are the key dates for participating?
- Entry forms due - February 6, 2005 - REGISTRATION CLOSED
- Project descriptions due - February 20, 2005 - CLOSED
- Final reports due - April 23, 2005 - CLOSED
Please note: For teams participating in the Windows Embedded Student ChallengE, there is no need to submit an interim report.
- Windows Embedded Student ChallengE finalists announced - May 6, 2005
- Windows Embedded Student ChallengE finals - June 17 & 18, 2005 in Redmond, WA
What are the prizes?
Based on the quality of their final report, 30 teams will be selected to present in-person to a panel of judges in Redmond, WA, on June 17 & 18, 2005. The top five winners will receive the following cash award:
1st Prize - $8,000 US
2nd Prize - $6,000 US
3rd Prize - $4,000 US
4th Prize - $3,200 US
5th Prize - $2,400 US
What are the criteria for participating?
The Microsoft Windows Embedded Student ChallengE follows the same set of official rules as the CSIDC; however, there is one primary difference:
- Windows® CE requirement: Windows Embedded Student ChallengE designs require building a Windows CE image on top of which applications are developed.
All other CSIDC official rules and conditions apply to the Windows Embedded Student ChallengE. For specific details on the CSIDC competition rules and judging criteria, please visit the CSIDC 2004 Web site.
What are the rules and regulations for participating?
The contest rules comply with the IEEE's Computer Society International Design Competition 2005 regulations (http://www.computer.org/csidc/index.htm). Teams should consist of four undergraduate students and a faculty mentor. Teams are challenged to design, implement, and document a working prototype for a device based on the theme: "Going Beyond the Boundaries". Designs can apply to any device that could be used in a real-world application, such as in the home, automobile, medical, industrial, or other industries. Each team wishing to participate in the competition must complete the online registration form. If there are several teams from one college or university, each team should submit its own application. Please see complete details on rules and regulations.
Please note that participants in the Windows Embedded Student Challenge must:
- Configure, build, debug, and deploy a Windows CE operating system image. Please note that this is a key part of the competition and teams are required to comply with this requirement. It is not sufficient to build an application on top of a pre-existing Windows CE image. The teams must each build the image that is appropriate for their project using Platform Builder, the Windows CE IDE.
- Build your application on top of the Windows CE image.
- Use the eBox II (a small footprint, embedded x86 system, along with online documentation and support) hardware provided by Microsoft.
- Who is judging the submissions?
Judges will consist of representatives from within Microsoft, academia, and industry.
How will submissions be judged?
Windows Embedded Student ChallengE judging will follow the CSIDC guidelines, which are re-printed below:
General Comments: Your report must be original. Reports that are similar to or derivatives of previous competitions are not eligible. All work must be new and innovative.
Originality: A major criterion will be the originality of the project. A project should be based on a "good idea." A project that is simply a new version of a project carried out by students in a previous competition is not acceptable. Equally, your project should not simply be a copy of an existing commercial project.
Relevance: How well your project fits in with the theme of being beneficial to society will be taken into account.
Substance: The project should be substantial. It represents the combined effort of four students for several months. Even a good idea will not succeed if it is, essentially, trivial.
Taking a System's Approach: Ideally, a project should combine a mixture of software and hardware (e.g., interfacing transducers or other systems to a computer). It is unlikely that a pure programming project will be successful.
Teamwork: Marks will be awarded for "teamwork"; that is, the report should demonstrate how the work was subdivided between the team members and how they function as a team.
Quality: The quality and presentation of your reports will be taken into account. Remember that this is a document that you are using to convince strangers that you are a winning team.
Creativity: Marks will be awarded for creativity in the design; that is, the approach used, algorithms developed, tools employed.
Planning: You should be able to provide a plan for the project period and identify the major tasks to be carried out.
Feasibility: Marks will be awarded for the practicality or feasibility of the project. Your system should be capable of being completed on time using the available resources.
Criteria for Judging
The following is a list of the criteria used to judge projects. This should help you understand the type of factors that professors take into account when evaluating a project:
- Have the students recognized the aim of the project and the problem that it addresses?
- Have appropriate analysis tools been used?
- Is the background to the project understood?
- Has the scope of the solution been determined?
- Have the boundaries to and the constraints on the solution been recognized?
- Have the hardware and software requirements of the solution been identified and their availability determined? Do the students have an appropriate contingency plan?
- Are there media constraints?
- Has the user view of the system been considered?
- Has a design for the solution been prepared?
- Has there been a discussion of the rejected options?
- Have the various elements of the system been justified?
- Have the potential benefits of the proposed computerized solution been presented?
- Is there a clear understanding of the limitations of the proposed solution?
- Is there evidence of the recording (e.g., sketches, notes, and other visual data) of ideas and observations from a range of appropriate sources?
- Has the student made perceptive connections between their personal work and that of others?
- Have alternative ideas and solutions been considered and developed visually with originality and personal style?
- Testing strategy and plan.
How is this year's event different from last year's competition?
This year the contest is being launched in other countries in addition to the United States, and the prize money has been doubled. For the 2005 event, only a select number of teams will be invited to come to Redmond, WA, based on their final report. Last year all participating teams were able to present in-person, but because we anticipate an increase in the number of teams, we will not be able to bring every team here for the finals. The top teams will be selected based on the quality of their final report.
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