Step 1: Select Your Senior Project and Your TI Analog ICs
Select your senior project as you normally would. It doesn’t matter what project you select (unless of course you select one that doesn’t require any analog) or whether your project is sponsored by another company.
All that is required in order for your senior project team’s design to be eligible for the contest is that it use either 3 different TI analog ICs, or 2 analog ICs and a TI processor. If you choose to use a TI processor, you can select from MSP430, OMAP or DSP. You can select your analog chips from the following categories:
- Amplifiers
- Clocks and timers
- Comparators
- Data converters
- Interface
- MSP430 (MCU+ADC)
- Power management
- RF
- Switches
- Temperature sensors
We encourage the use of other TI devices; however, only ICs in the analog categories specified above count toward the analog chip requirement.
Step 2: Submit the Entry Form
Now that you’ve got your project scoped out, your team is officially ready to enter the contest. Designate one team member to complete the entry on behalf of the team.
Paste the form headings below into an email and fill in the appropriate information. Then email it to analogdesigncontest@list.ti.com.
When we receive your entry, we will email a code and instructions that will allow your team to get up to $200 worth of free evaluation modules from the TI e-store. Also, each team member will be mailed a contest shirt in their correct shirt size and a really cool 1GB USB Flash drive.
Since some senior project courses don’t start until second semester, you have until April 15, 2010 to enter the contest.
Here’s the form to paste, fill-in, and email it to us at analogdesigncontest@list.ti.com
University:
Professor:
Course Name:
Brief Description of Project:
Team Member 1, Who is Also the Person Submitting this Form
Name:
Email Address:
Physical Address:
Shirt Size (Small, Medium, Large, X-large, XX-large):
Phone Number:
Team Member 2
Name:
Email Address:
Physical Address:
Shirt Size (Men’s Large, Women’s Medium, etc.):
Phone Number:
Team Member 3
Name:
Email Address:
Physical Address:
Shirt Size (Men’s Large, Women’s Medium, etc.):
Phone Number:
Repeat for each additional team member
Step 3: Do Your Senior Project Using Your Selected TI Analog Chips
This step's all up to you.
Step 4: When Your Project is Complete, Submit a Project Report
At the end of the project, your team must submit the following:
- Written description of the project
- An explanation of EACH TI analog chip or processor used describing how the chip benefited the design
At most schools, you must turn in a senior project report to your professor. We don’t want to make extra work for you—we recommend that you turn in that same report to us, adding the description of how each TI chip benefited the design. We do not want you to create a new report to new specifications, which is why we don’t specify exactly what you should put into your report. However, do make sure you’ve addressed the judging criteria listed below. In addition, you can look at the reports from last year’s winners of the Engibous Prize here.
Have your team lead submit your project description to 2009ContestEntries@ti.com. We will acknowledge when we receive it. Each school has a different deadlinefor turning in the project report. In all cases, however, the deadline is within a few days of the last day of the school year. Our legal rules list the deadline for each school.
While your professor will verify for us that the project you turned in matches the description in your report, the judges will never see your project; they will judge based on the report only.
Step 5: Wait (Judging Criteria)
While you are sitting back waiting with extreme anticipation, we will be judging your school’s projects. You won’t have to wait long—we typically have each school’s entries judged within a week of the deadline; then we notify all students of the winning teams.
Designs will be judged by 1) a third-party judge (i.e., someone not associated with your university or TI) and 2) either your professors or TI judges.
Judging criteria are as follows:
- Use of at least 3 TI analog ICs in the design or 2 analog ICs and a TI processor
- Originality of design
- Quality of design
- Creativity of design
- Level of engineering analysis
- Description of how each TI analog chip benefited the design
You can view the judging sheet that we use to evaluate projects  here (judging_sheet.pdf, 39 KB). Each judge fills out the judging sheet with numerical scores for the criteria listed above. The judge then adds up the numbers to determine the winner. If the judges for a school reach different conclusions, they hold a conference call to discuss the reports and agree on a winning team.
As a reminder, the judges do not actually see the project; they judge solely based on the written report you turn in.
Once the winning teams are chosen, we split the prize amount among the team members and send out checks. Checks are usually sent 2-4 weeks after the winners are announced.
If your team won first place, and at least 3 teams from your school completed the contest requirements, you will automatically be entered into the contest for the Engibous Prize, which is awarded in the late June/early July timeframe. Click here for details on the Engibous Prize contest.
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