Team Presentation
Teams must present to the judges before their first machine run. The presentation must be under five minutes and should cover the following points:
- Introduction of Team Members and Machine: Each team member should briefly introduce themselves and their role in the project. This helps judges understand how the team worked together. Introduce the machine and provide a brief overview of its purpose.
- Machine Storyline and Theme: Explain the creative story behind your machine and how it incorporates the contest theme. This adds context and an imaginative element to your presentation, showing how your design connects to real-world or fictional scenarios.
- Use of the Engineering Design Process: Describe how your team used the Engineering Design Process to develop your machine. This includes identifying the problem, brainstorming solutions, prototyping, testing, and iterating. Highlight key stages and decisions that influenced your project.
- Integration of STEM Processes (Junior Division) / Advanced Components (Senior Division):
- Junior Division: Explain how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts were integrated into your machine. Discuss specific STEM principles used in your design.
- Senior Division: Describe the use of Advanced Components in your machine, such as chemical reactions, electrical steps, fluid power, and mechanical actions. Explain how these components function and their role in the machine’s operation.
- Explanation of Machine Steps: Walk through the steps your machine takes to complete its task. Include relevant and age-appropriate scientific and engineering principles for each step. This demonstrates your understanding of the mechanics and principles behind your machine’s actions.
- Challenges Faced: Discuss any significant challenges your team encountered during the design and build process. Explain how you overcame these obstacles and what you learned from them. This showcases your problem-solving skills and resilience.
Presentations longer than five minutes will incur a 5-point penalty. Presenters will be stopped at the six-minute mark. After the presentation, judges will ask questions about the presentation and machine design. The question-and-answer session is not included in the five-minute time limit. Refer to the Team Presentation Score Sheet for scoring details.