The Contest That Wasn't...(Ramblings Of The Organising Team)
It's the night before the results and we're sure the excitement about the result of "Hunt for India's Best Academic Project" should be at its peak now. I thought of compiling all the thoughts and experiences we've had in the past several weeks this contest has been running. We're are super excited to see this competition reaching to an end successfully, exceeding all our expectations. Even though we did not have enough time to plan and promote the contest, the response from students was phenomenal. It was a huge learning experience for us too!
1. The Contest Will Return Next Year (Season II, 2016)
We've already made up our mind that this contest will return next year in a much bigger (and better) form. We felt that there indeed is a dire need of a global platform that showcases all the engineering projects from various disciplines and innovation at once. This year's contest was limited to participants from India only, but we had several entries from out of India as well. Next year's contest is likely to extend beyond India; and is likely to have much larger scope for participation. Further details, at appropriate time.
2. 11th Hour Submissions
Majority of the entries for both round I and round II were submitted either the night before the deadline or on the last day. We received unexpected number of requests to extend the deadline even after sending multiple reminders to the participants.
3. Copied Projects, Incomplete Entries, Half-Hearted Submissions
The initial screening process was very tiring as it involved eliminating projects that were copied or were ripped off from existing projects, entries that were incomplete and even the submissions that were made without reading the instructions properly.
4. Round II Short-Listed Projects, That Did Not Submit The Videos
There were several entries that got short-listed for Round II, but failed to complete the round II by submitting video of the project as required. We'd have loved to see all short-listed teams complete round II. All we can say for now is that some of the projects would have been serious contenders, but missed out an opportunity to win because they did not complete round II.
5. Eliminating Categories & Additional Prizes For 'Runner Up'
One of the most critical decisions we had to make was to eliminate entire category because there was no winning project in that category. At the same time, we decided to have runner up in some of the categories where there were deserving projects.
6. Exceptional Efforts In Making The Video
While there were no special marks for the video editing; some of the teams did exceptional video editing. We think video round is going to be a permanent round in the coming seasons of this competition.
7. Promotions
We'd have loved to reach out to more colleges that offer course in Chemical Engineering and related engineering disciplines. We're going to rely on all of you to help us promote this competition so that we get participation from all the engineering disciplines.
8. Not A Competition, But A Showcase
The primary aim of this competition was not to have engineering students compete against each other; but to bring all these projects on a single, global platform so that they inspire future generations of engineers. We hope to involve various engineering industries in this competition from next year onwards so that the worthy engineering projects can be adopted by the industry.
9. Innovation : The Responsibility Lies On Us, Engineers.
We firmly believe that technology and innovation, that keeps the environment safe and yet helps entire living ecosystem advance, is a shared responsibility of all (crazy) engineers. This competition strengthened this belief and we are super-sure that future versions of this competition will bring out the best of it.
10. Not Possible Without - YOU
All the credit for the success of this competition goes to you, CEans. Without your participation, questions, doubts, motivation and feedback; we'd have never been able to organize this competition. The results will be declared in a few hours from now and the competition will officially conclude. A Big Thank You, Again! We're already pumped up for the Season II!
Are you?
1. The Contest Will Return Next Year (Season II, 2016)
We've already made up our mind that this contest will return next year in a much bigger (and better) form. We felt that there indeed is a dire need of a global platform that showcases all the engineering projects from various disciplines and innovation at once. This year's contest was limited to participants from India only, but we had several entries from out of India as well. Next year's contest is likely to extend beyond India; and is likely to have much larger scope for participation. Further details, at appropriate time.
2. 11th Hour Submissions
Majority of the entries for both round I and round II were submitted either the night before the deadline or on the last day. We received unexpected number of requests to extend the deadline even after sending multiple reminders to the participants.
3. Copied Projects, Incomplete Entries, Half-Hearted Submissions
The initial screening process was very tiring as it involved eliminating projects that were copied or were ripped off from existing projects, entries that were incomplete and even the submissions that were made without reading the instructions properly.
4. Round II Short-Listed Projects, That Did Not Submit The Videos
There were several entries that got short-listed for Round II, but failed to complete the round II by submitting video of the project as required. We'd have loved to see all short-listed teams complete round II. All we can say for now is that some of the projects would have been serious contenders, but missed out an opportunity to win because they did not complete round II.
5. Eliminating Categories & Additional Prizes For 'Runner Up'
One of the most critical decisions we had to make was to eliminate entire category because there was no winning project in that category. At the same time, we decided to have runner up in some of the categories where there were deserving projects.
6. Exceptional Efforts In Making The Video
While there were no special marks for the video editing; some of the teams did exceptional video editing. We think video round is going to be a permanent round in the coming seasons of this competition.
7. Promotions
We'd have loved to reach out to more colleges that offer course in Chemical Engineering and related engineering disciplines. We're going to rely on all of you to help us promote this competition so that we get participation from all the engineering disciplines.
8. Not A Competition, But A Showcase
The primary aim of this competition was not to have engineering students compete against each other; but to bring all these projects on a single, global platform so that they inspire future generations of engineers. We hope to involve various engineering industries in this competition from next year onwards so that the worthy engineering projects can be adopted by the industry.
9. Innovation : The Responsibility Lies On Us, Engineers.
We firmly believe that technology and innovation, that keeps the environment safe and yet helps entire living ecosystem advance, is a shared responsibility of all (crazy) engineers. This competition strengthened this belief and we are super-sure that future versions of this competition will bring out the best of it.
10. Not Possible Without - YOU
All the credit for the success of this competition goes to you, CEans. Without your participation, questions, doubts, motivation and feedback; we'd have never been able to organize this competition. The results will be declared in a few hours from now and the competition will officially conclude. A Big Thank You, Again! We're already pumped up for the Season II!
Are you?
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