List of Content
- Tasks to Complete Prior to Contest Day
- Judging Process Overview
- Judging Roles
- Official Contest Handbook
- Score Sheets
- CompetitionSuite Overview
- CompetitionSuite Video Tutorials
Tasks to Complete Prior to Contest Day
Prior to the contest day, judges should complete the following list of tasks. Information related to each of these tasks is found on this website. Judges should contact the contest organizer with any questions.
- Review Contest Handbook
- Closely read all rules pertaining to your assigned judging role.
- Review and become familiar with the score sheets.
- Download CompetitionSuite application on your smartphone or tablet.
- Watch the CompetitionSuite Video Tutorials.
Judging Process Overview
The following is a general overview of the judging process. Judges should take time to read the Handbook to fully understand the contest rules.
Team Journal
Every team will submit a team journal to the contest organizer prior to the contest. The purpose of this journal is to capture the design process and development of their machines over time. Some contest organizers will ask judges to review and score the journals prior to contest day, while others will allow time on the contest day to score them.
Team Presentation
Prior to running their machine, teams will give a presentation to the judges that communicate the machine storyline, integration of STEM and technical components, and the team’s use of the Engineering Design Process. Judges are able to ask the team questions about their machine and design process.
Machine Runs
After the team presentations, the team will get to run their machine for the judges two times. The first time will be immediately following the team presentation. The second time will be after all other teams in the judging cluster have presented and run their machines the first time.
Rounds
There will be two rounds of competition: the Preliminary Round and the Finals Round. During the Preliminary Round, all teams will compete in clusters of approximately 4 to 8 teams. Each cluster of teams will be scored by a separate group of judges. The top-scoring teams from each cluster will advance to the Finals Round in accordance with the contest rules. In the Finals Round, all teams will be judges by the same group of judges and will not be split into clusters.
If there is a fewer number of teams registered for the contest, a contest organizer may choose to have the Preliminary Rounds be a Showcase Round where teams present and run their machines for the other teams in the competition. In this case, the Preliminary Round or Showcase Round would not be judged and all teams would compete in the Finals Round.
Divisions
There are two divisions based on the grade level of students: Junior Division | 5th-8th Grade and Senior Division | 9th-12th Grade. Each division is scored separately.
Judging Roles
The Judging Committee will be evenly split into Judging Groups and assigned to specific clusters of teams in the Preliminary Round. Each Judging Group will include a Lead Judge, Technical Judge, and Design Judge. The contest organizer will communicate to judges their specific roles.
Lead Judge
The Lead Judge is responsible for keeping the Judging Group organized, moving in a timely manner, addressing questions other judges in the group may have, and facilitating any needed discussion.
Technical Judge
The Technical Judge is responsible for completing Machine Specifications and Run Penalties and while the other judges score teams on Machine Design and Operation. In most situations, the technical judge will NOT score Team Journals or Team Presentations. Their primary responsibility is to focus on ensuring machines meet specifications as outlined in the handbook and assess penalties that occur during machine runs. In some cases, the Technical Judge will also fill the role of Design Judge.
Design Judge
The Design Judge is responsible for measuring teams machine prior to the start of judging or immediately following the team’s first run and reporting those measurements to the Technical Judge. In some cases, the Technical Judge will fill the role of Design Judge.
The Design Judge should consider bringing their favorite measuring tape or laser from home.
General Judge
All other judges, not assigned to the roles above, will be responsible for judging the Team Journals, Team Presentations, and Machine Design and Operation.
Official Contest Handbook
Score Sheets
Technical Judge Only
Hand Tabulation Only
The Score Summary Sheet is helpful when hand calculating scores and not using the CompetitionSuite Tabulation System.
CompetitionSuite Overview
CompetitionSuite is the tabulation system used to automatically calculate scores. Judges can enter scores directly into the app while judging. Alternatively, judges can handwrite scores on the score sheets provided and after each round enter their final scores into the app.
Important note for all judges…
When entering scores into CompetitionSuite, DO NOT VERIFY YOUR SCORES until you are CERTAIN they are what you want to submit. If you need to change a score after you have verified it, the Lead Judge must unlock that score which may delay the tabulation process.
Lead Judge
The Lead Judge will have higher level permissions in the system and may want to use a handheld device for their own scoring purposes and a laptop with the browser app to monitor the other judges’ scores. If you are a Lead Judge, be sure to view the LEAD JUDGE TABULATION MONITORING AND TIPS video below.
App Download Links
Prior to the contest day, all judges will receive an email prompting them to create a CompetitionSuite account and download the app. If you do not receive that email, contact your contest organizer.