2024-2025 Student Design Competition Details and Official Rules

Main scope:

Undergraduate students would suggest and execute projects on electrical engineering and related areas. The focus should be on finding a solution to a real-life problem based on circuits and systems.

Team requirements:

• The teams should consist of 3 to 10 members, all of which must be undergraduate students or high school students (until 31 December 2024)
• Each team should have at least one mentor, which must be a faculty member(s) or graduate student(s). The mentors are not considered team members
• At least 3 team members must be IEEE CASS members (for 2024 and 2025)

Competition phases:

The competition will be carried out in three phases:

• Phase one is at the Chapter level
• Phase two is at the Regional level
• Phase three (final phase) is at the world level during ISCAS 2025

Phase one of the competition (Chapter level):

• Phase one should be organized by the local Chapters (or the local Sections)
• There will be one local competition per Chapter
• To register in the competition, the teams must submit a registration form (using the provided template) containing "title", "team composition", "brief description", and "expected outcome"

Download the phase one Registration Form Template

• The completed registration form must be sent, by email, to the Chair of the CASS Chapter from the geographical area the team belongs to, with a copy to the corresponding regional CASS BoG representative. Alternatively, if there is no CASS chapter in the team's area, the submission should be just sent to the corresponding regional CASS BoG representative
• CASS will provide funding ($500 USD) for each local competition
• Chapters (or Sections) are encouraged to seek sponsorship from local industry
• The composition of the local judging panel for the first phase:
  • At least three members, appointed by the local organization
  • There must be at least one member from the local industry in the judging panel
  • The non-industry members should be CASS members
  • Conflicts of interest should be avoided
  • The proposed projects should be screened by the local judging panel
  • The evaluation will be carried out with the teams making a live demonstration to the judging panel
  • Projects will be evaluated based on "Technical quality", "Creativity", "Relevance to a real-life problem in circuits and systems", and "Accessibility to and engagement with undergraduate and high school students"

Phase two of the competition (Regional level):

• Up to two projects from each chapter will compete
• The composition of the judging panel for the second phase:
  • At least 5 members
  • Members should be preferentially from the corresponding region
  • CASS Technical Committees (TCs) should take part in the appointment of the judging panel
  • The corresponding BoG Regional Representative may also suggest members
  • The CASS VP Technical Activities and VP Regional Activities and Membership should endorse the suggestions and decide on the final composition of the judging panel
  • Each team must produce a report (using the provided template) together with a video with a detailed demonstration of the project
  • The video should last at most 10 minutes
  • The video and report should be uploaded to the CASS website here
  • Each video must be validated by the local judging panel (from the first phase of the competition) before submission
  • The evaluation will be made remotely, with the aid of the report and the demonstration video

 Submit your phase two report and video

Phase three (final phase) of the competition (World level during ISCAS):

• One winner from each region will compete
• Phase three, the final phase, will take place during ISCAS
• CASS will provide a travel grant and ISCAS registration for a maximum of three team members, who must be IEEE CAS members, to be present at the final phase of the competition
• Travel to ISCAS will be reimbursed, the travel grant value will be $1,200 USD for travel within your chapter’s region (R1-7, R8, R9, or R10) and $1,700 USD for travel outside of your chapter’s region
• The team winning the final competition will be awarded a prize of $3,000 USD
• The composition of the judging panel for the final phase:
  • At least 5 members
  • CASS Technical Committees (TCs) should take part in the appointment of the judging panel
  • CASS TCs to be involved should be defined by the CASS VP Technical Activities
  • CASS TCs should ensure the appointment of regional industry representatives to the judging panel
  • The BoG Regional Representatives may also suggest members
  • The CASS VP Technical Activities and VP Regional Activities and Membership should endorse the suggestions and decide on the final composition of the judging panel
• The teams are allowed to submit the final version of the report using the provided template
• The evaluation will be carried out with the teams making a live demonstration to the judging panel