WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge

A Collegiate Level Student Competition

The WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge is a creative collegiate manufacturing competition where student club members choose their own manufacturing project. The students then build the project for display and evaluation at the WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge Contest. Other types of manufacturing projects including class projects and funded projects are also welcome as entries in the contest.

Any type of engineering principle, concept, or process may be applied in the design and manufacturing of the project entry. Conventional or automated manufacturing processes, robots, vision systems, programmable controllers, computers, material handling systems, or any other manufacturing process may be used individually or in any combination.

The entries may consist of static displays, working models or systems or a combination of the preceding. All entries must fit in a 10'x10' booth.

The timeline for developing the entry is from March 24, 2009 through March 22, 2010. If the entry was started earlier than March 24, 2009, only that part of the entry completed during the March 24, 2009 through March 22, 2010 time period is eligible for consideration and must be so identified for the judges.

If the project has been entered in a previous contest or will be entered in a later contest, this information must be made clear to the judges.

SME will provide one 10' x 10' booth per school entry on the WESTEC showroom floor. Each booth includes one (1) 6' long draped table, two (2) chairs, and access to one (1) 110V outlet. A school identification sign is also included with the name of the school as shown on the school’s registration form.

Contest entries must be moved to the showroom booth area between the hours of:

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 22, 2009 and/or between 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23, 2010.  Judging will start at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Team members must be currently enrolled in their sponsoring school.

Project Abstract:

A one page abstract containing a maximum of 300 words describing the entry must be prepared for the judges to preview.

The following information must be included at the top of the abstract:

School Name, Faculty Advisor’s Name, Project Name, Project Type (club project, class project or funded project), Start Date, and Completion Date. This information will not be included in the 300 word count.

In the abstract, the students should describe the project and the processes used in its design and manufacture. The abstract will be the contest judges’ first contact with the project and is an important part of their evaluation of the project.

Project Presentation:

The students must be prepared for a 10 minute presentation of the details of their entry to the judging team. Judging points may be deducted if the presentation is longer than 10 minutes.

Project Question and Answer Session:

Following the project presentation, the judges will conduct a project question and answer session that should also not exceed 10 minutes. This will allow each student team a total of 20 minutes to explain their project to the judges. Use the time wisely.

WESTEC Career Fair

The students will have the opportunity to participate in the WESTEC Career Fair. Team members should bring multiple copies of their resumes to provide to the companies that will be conducting hiring interviews for full time employment and internships. The Career Fair will be held in conjunction with the contest. The judges will post a schedule of the time that each school will be judged. This will allow the team members to interview with the companies without running the risk of missing their school team’s judging time.

Travel Funds

Some travel funding will be available for the school teams. Teams having to travel over 100 miles will be eligible for travel/motel funds. This could be as high as $1,000/team, depending on the distance traveled and the number of team members. Only those schools that meet the registration deadline will be eligible for travel funds. Note: Funds for travel reimbursement are subject to the availability of these funds.

More about the Contest and Student Activities:

The WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge is an exciting, stimulating, and challenging day for collegiate-level engineering and technology students to demonstrate the important connection between classroom lectures/labs and industrial applications.

Prior to the contest day, the student teams brainstorm, design and build manufacturing projects that demonstrate their engineering, problem-solving, teamwork, and project management skills.

The WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge exposes students to the world of manufacturing engineering in a number of stimulating and exciting ways. Students talk personally with a team of manufacturing professionals who view and evaluate their projects for the contest awards. The students have the opportunity to meet students from the other schools and to evaluate and discuss each other’s projects. The students have the opportunity to interface with the WESTEC attendees and explain their projects to them.

To conclude the day's activities, students, instructors, industry representatives, and other interested parties are invited to attend the WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge Awards Ceremony. First, second and third place awards will be presented to the winners in each of the contest’s two categories, as well as the contest’s Grand Prize. In addition, the William B. Johnson “Leadership in Manufacturing” award will be presented. Details on the application and selection of the William B. Johnson “Leadership in Manufacturing” award are covered on separate sheets attached to this document.

The students and their instructors are also part of the WESTEC EXPERIENCE - the largest annual metalworking and manufacturing exposition of its kind in North America. Contest participants can tour over 230,000 square feet of technology exhibits free of charge. They can interact with more than 800 exhibitors demonstrating leading-edge manufacturing equipment.

It promises to be a full day of challenging and rewarding activities for the students.

If you have questions or desire more information, please contact: