RULES, REGULATIONS, SCORING

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE RULES, REGULATIONS AND SCORING (PDF)

GENERAL
The event is open to colleges, universities, trade schools and other post-secondary educational institutions in North America.

Each participant must register with Energy Challenge at IPST by filling out all required forms and providing documentation from the college registrar for proof of enrollment.

A faculty project advisor must supervise each team. This advisor can be appointed by the college, but must be an employee of the home institution. It is strongly encouraged that all Faculty house this Competition under a course for consistency of meeting time and space. History has shown us that most teams meeting in a classroom setting, for credit, perform better in the Competition.

Each team must elect a team captain who will serve as a point of contact for the Competition's public relations efforts. The team captain contact information form must be submitted with other forms within the proposal packet no later than September 16, 2003.

Energy Challenge will pay airfare and hotel accommodations for three student members and one faculty project advisor to travel to the competition in Colorado.

All participants and faculty project advisors must read and discuss the US Department of Energy’s Agenda 2020 (www.oit.doe.gov/forest, click on About Us under Forest Products Home, then click on Agenda 2020) the Energy Challenge Request for Proposal, and the Energy Challenge Rules and Regulations. All required documents, i.e., the proposal, mid-project report, final report, and video should be produced with these publications in mind.

All teams must follow the prescribed format for report writing and submission. All deadlines must be adhered to.

Based on proposals, up to 10 teams* will be selected to compete in the Energy Challenge. Teams selected will be awarded a $2000 start up grant. (*Current funding allows for 10 teams).

Any team that withdraws from the competition must return the $2,000 start up grant at time of withdrawal.

Competition awards: 1st place = $15,000, 2nd place = $10,000, and 3rd place = $5,000.

Teams must have the capability of downloading files and forms, including pdf format, from the Internet. All teams must have the capability to receive (via e-mail) and open PowerPoint, MS Word, and Adobe Acrobat.pdf formatted files.

Questions regarding rules and regulations, e.g., allowable materials, design specifications, production techniques, required documents, and sample submission must be submitted in writing to the IPST Energy Challenge office at energy.challenge@ipst.gatech.edu. Questions will be addressed in the newsletter and on the web page, www.ipst.edu/energy_challenge, for the benefit of all participants.

All teams shall be mindful of and in keeping with the spirit of this competition. Snowboards must meet the requirements established in the competition protocol and teams must follow procedural directions prescribed by the Co-Principal Investigators and Review Committee as presented in this document.

All teams accept and agree to the rules and regulations of this competition by registering.

PROPOSAL
All faculty and team members are required to read a copy of the DOE’s Agenda 2020 for background information before writing and submitting their proposals. The design proposals must be written based on the content of Agenda 2020, and are not to exceed 5 pages in length. All proposals must address each the following: (1) Project Organization, (2) Design and Engineering, (3) Component Development and Selection, (4) Safety Issues, (5) Energy Efficiency and Waste Minimization, and (6) Team Qualifications. Proposals will be due at IPST postmarked no later than September 16, 2003. These proposals will be reviewed and ranked by the Review Committee based upon the following: (1) Technical Depth, Innovation, Components and Materials [30%], (2) Energy Efficiency and Waste Minimization [25%], (3) Organization and Project Planning [25%], (4) Fundraising and Team Support [10%], and (5) Safety [10%].

DOWNLOAD ENERGY CHALLENGE 2004 PROPOSAL EVALUATION FORM (PDF)

DOWNLOAD COMPETITION SCORING PROTOCOL (PDF)

COMMENTS

1. Faculty supervising the teams are strongly encouraged to incorporate the project into a design class or other special problems class where students receive credit for the effort.
   
   
2. Each team is encouraged to have an industrial mentor.
   
   
3. Two identical boards must be produced, one will be used in the competition and one will be subjected to destructive testing by IPST at IPST facilities.
   
   
4. The snowboard weight is the total weight of the snowboard, excluding attachments (i.e., bindings).
   
   
5. The snowboard shall be constructed as a Freeride style. The snowboard must conform to the standard requirements for competition snowboards (International Snowboard Competition Rules – International Ski Federation). The snowboard may be directional or twin tip. The snowboard shall be between 150-174 cm in length and 24-27 cm at the waist. The maximum snowboard width is 3 cm greater than the waist dimension. The minimum snowboard width is 24 cm. There is no limitation on snowboard thickness (note: t-nuts for attaching bindings are 1 cm long).
   
   
6. IPST will provide each team with 16 t-nuts for anchoring bindings. Each team may decide how may t-nuts to use up to a maximum of 8. Remember, the test board must be constructed identically to the race board, including the number of t-nuts used.
   
   
7. IPST will provide each team with one set of bindings.
   
   
8. Edges are allowed.
   
   
9. Given the different resources available to schools it is anticipated that teams will take one of two approaches to addressing the design problem. The first approach would be to “build from scratch” and the second would be to “buy off the shelf components”. "Build from scratch" means to produce your own paper and "buy off the shelf" means to use commercially manufactured paper materials. Perhaps a combination of the two approaches will also be used. It is important to remember that the spirit of the competition is to foster an innovative, unique, and functional design that makes use of the unique properties of paper fibers and also highlights energy efficiency and waste minimization. One avenue for addressing energy efficiency and waste minimization is the use of recycled fiber however it is not the only avenue. The grading criteria for both the Mid Term Report and the Final Report are based on supporting the spirit of the competition, not just the rules of the competition. Every effort should be made to include quantifiable information as opposed to qualitative information.
   
   
10. The goal fiber content is 80% based on the total weight of the board. Determination of fiber content will be based on testing at IPST. Fiber content less than 80% or greater than 80% will result in the “Construction, Performance and Engineering” score being adjusted using the following formula:
    
    Scoregiven = Scoreconstruction x Actual Fiber %/80%
    
    
11. For the purposes of this competition, “fiber” is defined as natural cellulose fiber in a natural fibrous form. The original fiber source can be any plant producing cellulose fibers.
    
    
12. Fibers produced by a cellulose reconstitution process or fibers produced from synthetics will not be considered as part of the goal fiber content.
    
    
13. Films of any form are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to acetate, cellophane, rayon, etc. Paper in sheet form is not considered to be a film.
    
    
14. Wood in its natural state, whether cut or uncut, will NOT be considered as part of the goal fiber content.
    
    
15. A layered structure may be used to construct the snowboard.
    
    
16. If the snowboard incorporates a load-bearing frame, the structure must be made from natural fibrous cellulose. Furthermore, if a load bearing frame is utilized, the frame cannot be constructed using a commercially produced product such as a paper tube or core. These materials are not consistent with the spirit of the competition and therefore are not allowed.
    
    
17. Binders, synthetic fibers, polymers, adhesives, coatings and other finishing materials are permitted but are not considered as part of the goal fiber content.
    
    
18. The same team members shall participate in all rounds of the competition – limited substitutions are allowed for extenuating circumstances.
    
    
19. Damaged snowboards can be repaired, but not replaced. Any repairs must not delay the start of the following round of competition.
    
    
20. Only one race board will be allowed for competition.
    
    
21. The person who will actually race the snowboard must be a team member.