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FAQs

Entry Rules

Updates or Edits to Entries

Qualification Process

Popular Vote Prizes

Page Views

General Information

Entry Rules

Can I enter a patented or patent-pending idea in this year's contest?
Yes. You may wish to indicate patent status in the check-off box provided on the Entry Form. You can also elect not to publish your entry on the web site; however, this will prevent you from competing for popular vote prizes. The contest sponsors are not responsible for the protection of intellectual property contained in any of the entries, but will take all necessary precautions to ensure the confidentiality of non-published entries.

Do I lose control over my idea once I enter it in the contest?
No. Per the Rules, the entrant retains ownership of the idea. The contest sponsors are only interested in helping to promote and reward innovative design ideas.

Can I enter the contest if I reside outside the United States?
Yes. However, eligibility to win prizes is restricted to countries (and states) which do not outlaw a contest with the prize value offered by this contest.

Can I enter the contest with a description shorter than 500 words?
Yes. However, the more complete your entry description, the better your chances of winning. Your visual materials will also improve your chances of winning.

How do you count words? My word count doesn't look as expected.
The word counter checks for spaces between words. You should paste your text from a plain text format (such as Notepad) to reduce the risk of invisible characters that inflate the word count.  Because of issues with text from other document formats, we actually allow a small buffer of 515 words before we reject more text in the text input form.

Are entry ideas developed by a team or group eligible to compete?
Yes. The entry should be submitted by the team or group leader whom you designate, and this person should be listed in the “Entrant Name” field. Where prompted on the Entry Form, list all other members of the team.

Can I enter the contest without providing image(s) to illustrate my entry?
No. At least one image is required to accompany the text. This could be a diagram, a drawing of the idea in application, or any other visual aid to help the judges. Entries without any associated images will be disqualified. The image(s) must be uploaded and submitted electronically with the 
Entry Form.

I would like to submit more than one image. Can I do that?
Yes. You can upload up to three separate images when submitting your entry.

Can I mail supplemental materials to support my entry?
No. We cannot accept samples, prototypes, CDs, or any other materials. We can only accept the text and image(s) submitted when you complete your Entry Form online.

How many ideas or designs can I submit?
Per the Rules, participants can submit one entry per category. Each entry should represent a different design concept. Identical or very similar ideas in multiple categories from the same entrant may be disqualified.  An individual may not enter the same or similar idea submitted by a team of which they are a member.

If the idea incorporates complex electronics, is it necessary to create drawings at the microcircuit level, or simply give an idea of what the mechanism would be designed to do?
The image(s) submitted with your entry are intended to help the judges understand and visualize the design concept, and thus should support your text description. They can be as detailed or simple as you choose. The judges will be technical professionals, so schematics, specifications, and other details should be meaningful in helping to convey the completeness of your entry, but they are not required.

Is it possible to include photos of a prototype model in my contest submission?
Yes. Any type of image, including photos of prototypes, can be submitted as long as they are in one of the valid image formats indicated on the Entry Form.

Are any prototypes required?
No. Prototypes are not required.

Can I submit an Excel file?
No. Only entries with valid illustration formats will be accepted via the web site.

May I submit a design idea that I submitted in a previous Create the Future contest?
Previous entries may only be resubmitted if there is an update or significant change to the design.

May I submit an entry that has previously won another contest?
Only if it did NOT win a prize of monetary value. An entry that has previously won prizes in another contest prior to entering the Create the Future Design Contest is ineligible to compete.

I registered for a previous contest. Do I need to register again this year?
Yes, you must register for the 2011 contest to enter or vote on entries. Your previous password is no longer valid.

 

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Updates or Edits to Entries

Can I update or add something to my entry?
If your description was incomplete, we suggest you delete your entry and re-enter. You may do this by logging in to the site with your email address and password.  Then you may resubmit your entire entry. We cannot accept separate e-mail addendums or revisions.

Can I update my "Meet the Entrant" questionnaire responses?
Yes. You may log in to the web site to edit this information from your entrant home page.

Can I change my "Meet the Entrant" questionnaire responses without changing my page views count?
Yes. You may change your questionnaire responses and it will not change your page views count. 

How Do I Delete, Change Public/Private Entry Setting, or Check Entry Status?
Log in to the contest site, then go to http://contest.techbriefs.com/profile. Choose the entry you wish to alter, then use the icons to delete or change visibility settings. Click on the red "x" in the "Deleted" column to delete an entry. Click on the green check-mark or red "x" in the "Public" column to toggle visibility of the entry.  You can toggle visibility as many times as you wish but cannot undelete an entry once it is deleted.

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Qualification Process

What does "qualification" mean?
Qualification is a pre-filter on entries to verify they meet the contest rules: One entry per category, at least one image attached in a valid format, and a reasonably coherent and cogent description as judged by contest administrators. Administrators will screen out inappropriate or incomplete entries before the judges receive the entries.

My entry was declared "unqualified."  Can I fix it?
You may fix it by signing in, deleting the old entry, and reentering.  Entries cannot be edited after submission and qualification review.  The most common reason for disqualifying entries is failure to provide at least one image file in an acceptable format.  An entry may also be determined "unqualified" if it has already been entered in another category of the contest by the same entrant or team, or is deemed frivolous by the administrators.

 

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Popular Vote Prizes

How does voting work?
To vote, you must register with us, providing some basic contact information.  After you register, you will be able to log in using your password.  When you log in, you will have the option of casting one vote per entry. You can also post comments or questions about entries.

Can I vote if I entered the contest?  Can I vote if I didn't enter the contest?
Yes, voting is possible for both contest entrants and visitors to the site who have not entered the contest.  Entrants should use their existing email login and password and do not need to re-register to vote. Please tell other people to vote!  The more votes cast, the more reliable the results will be.

How long do I have to cast my votes?
Voting will continue until August 31, 2011, 11:59 pm EST.

What impact does the popular vote have on the judging for grand or category prizes?
None. The selection of the grand prize and category winners is based on the scores of an independent industry panel, who judge the entries strictly on the criteria listed in the Rules.

Why do I need to register to vote on entries?
We require voter registration to ensure a fair voting process...one vote per entry per person. To register to vote, you only need to fill in the first set of fields that are labeled as required. This information is not shared or published. It should only take a minute to register, and then you can vote on as many different entries as you would like once you log in.

 

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Page Views

Why do entry page view numbers matter?
One of the options for contest web site visitors is to sort the published entries by number of page views.  Those with higher numbers will appear first and potentially garner more interest and votes.

How do I increase my entry's page views?
Some ideas for bringing your page some traffic: Advertise your entry on blogs, social media sites, and bookmarking sites such as “del.icio.us” and “stumbleupon.”  Use interesting tags that attract attention, but please make them relevant or the site administrators may adjust these for you. Make sure the first few sentences of your published full entry or summary are interesting and grab the casual site visitor. Include a striking image. Your log files should show evidence of referral traffic to keep to the spirit of this competition, otherwise your entry may be subject to manual page view adjustment by the contest administrators. You may be challenged to provide evidence of public web referrers at any time by the administrators.

What are unacceptable forms of entry promotion? What if I do something you don't find acceptable?
Unacceptable forms of self-promotion include posting your entry in public forums where it is not relevant to the discussion topic; using generic visuals that do not make clear that you are linking to a specific contest entry; using the contest logo or other visuals from the contest site for your personal advertisement purposes. Use of bots and repeated reloading over extended periods of time is also unacceptable. Forms of advertisement that lead to email complaints about entry promotion being “off-topic” in forums/groups/mailing lists/sites will be investigated by the site administrators. Contestants who use these methods may have their entries hidden from public view on the site.

If I hide my entry, and then publish it again, do I keep my previous page views?
Yes. Your previous page view count will be maintained, unless your entry has been subject to manual page view adjustment due to suspicious activity.

How are you measuring page views for the most visited entries?
We are tracking based on both time of visit and visitor. We have an algorithm that looks for views by unique human visitors within a time window. Any numbers that appear to be suspect or the result of an automated process may be subject to manual review, and may be adjusted for accuracy at any time by the contest administrators.  You may be challenged at any time to provide evidence of public page referrers on other web sites, to account for your page view count.

Why don't my page views increase automatically when I load my own page?
We update the entry page view statistics several times a day from a database, so you won't see updates on every page load. We also screen for repeat visits by the same person.

Do views of my uploaded image file count towards page views?
No, only views of your full entry details page are counted.

 

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General Information

How do sponsors benefit from underwriting the contest?
Sponsors are supporting the contest to help create opportunity and goodwill among members of the design engineering community. Links within the site will help interested visitors and participants learn more about sponsor products and services. Please visit them at the Sponsors page.

Are NASA employees and contractors eligible to enter this contest?
Yes. NASA employees and contractors are eligible.

Can I still win if I’m not an engineer or a scientist?
Yes. We encourage entries by students and entrepreneurs.

I found something offensive on the site, in a questionnaire or in an entry. Can you please do something about it?
If you see something that is offensive, send us a note at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We will review it as soon as possible.

Does the use of specific design software or other tools influence the selection of winning entries?
No. Winning entries will be selected solely on the basis of four criteria: innovation, manufacturability, marketability and cost-effectiveness. Good textual descriptions and visuals will help communicate these aspects of your design to the judges.

If you have other questions about the contest, please contact Contest Site Admininstration by sending an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

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