iSTART Weekly Innovation Challenge Guidelines
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Let’s START by remembering why we are here…why our education team is offering you an opportunity to take your brain to the next level…into the world of inventing!
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Because you carry the seeds of ideas you may not even know live inside your brain! Yes, you! As you go through your everyday life…you see and experience the “stuff” that brings inventions to life!
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What better time than now to search what ideas lurk in the recesses of your creativity! Your school has had to shut down…time seems to be moving SO slowly as you wait for life to return to normal…what better time than now to let your brain go wildly free to explore ideas and inventions!
Sound good? OK…get a pencil, paper and get ready!
Your goal in the iSTART Weekly Innovation Challenge is this:
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You have up to 300 words and 1 well labeled diagram to convince us you have thought of something great! We will give you the picture or description of an object. You send us your innovative idea that answers our question for that week: What Would You Do With… (the object or tool).
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Each Monday morning at 8:00 am, our team will upload a new "invention question" and picture or description for that week’s challenge. Each new question is posted on Monday of each week and you have until Thursday night, 11:59 pm to submit your answer and idea.
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There will be weekly winners! All winners will be posted on our website each Monday beginning Monday, June 22nd.
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This weekly contest is formatted as a “prime the pump” to get your brains ready for the bigger, iSTART Inventing Contest. Pictures of weekly winners may be posted on our website along with a short comment about the nature of the clever idea sent to us.
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VERY IMPORTANT: All entries in the iSTART Inventing Contest will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and not be released in any form to the public. Parts of ideas from the weekly winners may be posted on our website along with pictures of the winners. If you are planning to use any part of an idea in the iSTART Inventing Contest that you have discovered in your creative arsenal as you prepared for a weekly challenge, do not enter that idea in a weekly contest! Because we cannot insure we will not use words you wish to keep confidential about your invention, better to save that idea for the bigger contest!
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You may only submit one entry each week…entries must be submitted via Email to admin@istart.education by 11:59 pm on Thursday of the competition week.
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Every new week is a new round of competition. You can enter just 1 week or you can enter all 9 weeks! Remember, just 1 entry per week. If we see multiple submissions from you, though they all may be great, we will have no choice but to eliminate all of your entries for that week.
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Everyone will have the same “tool or item” to work with to create an entry for that week. Those “tools” may be an invention already in use or a type of equipment or something as simple as a potato peeler!
You, the inventor, must come up with an idea of how you would take that tool, that idea, that object or whatever our team gives you for that week and make it something totally new…your special innovative “spin" on what you have been given to work with!
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PRIZES
Weekly prizes will be one of the following 1000Ksh, iSTART Tshirt, or other bling.
Top winners from each week's iSTART Weekly Innovation Challenge will be automatically entered in a drawing for the chance to win a spot at our grand prize: An expense paid trip to the Kenya Youth Invention Summit! All winners to the summit will be contacted by email and/or by phone on or before August 10th. The date of the Kenya Youth Invention Summit will be announced based on developments with COVID-19 travel and group gathering restrictions - our hope is mid August!
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Rules for Submission:
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All submissions must be in English.
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The idea must be original work that has been developed by the named applicant and it must be entirely the work of the applicant. This is not a team project. Though individuals up to the age of 20 may assist as a “sounding board” for the applicant to test his/her ideas before submitting, no other person may create any of the submitted elements or provide excessive influence on the concept design.
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The idea may include pre-existing elements and components created by others as long as the proper credit is given.
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The submission and/or presentation may not disclose any third-party intellectual property or violate any existing copyright protections.
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Submissions may not copy or use other materials without properly citing the source. Proper citation includes the standard information of a scientific citation, including authors, publication source, dates, volume, pages or URL information.
Important Dates:
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Mon, June 15 Release of Weekly Challenge #1
Mon, June 22 Release of Weekly Challenge #2 - Tue, June 23 Winners of Week 1 announced
Mon, June 29 Release of Weekly Challenge #3 - Tue, June 30 Winners of Week 2 announced
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Wed, July 1st - PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE 2020 iSTART Inventing! Contest - Click Here to see Contest Guidelines on how to submit your entry
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Mon, July 06 Release of Weekly Challenge #4 - Tue, July 07 Winners of Week 3 announced
Mon, July 13 Release of Weekly Challenge #5 - Tue, July 14 Winners of Week 4 announced
Mon, July 20 Release of Weekly Challenge #6 - Tue, July 21 Winners of Week 5 announced
Mon, July 27 Release of Weekly Challenge #7 - Tue, July 28 Winners of Week 6 announced
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Wednesday, July 29th: FINAL DAY FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS this is your last chance to enter a proposal for the 2020 iSTART Inventing! Contest
Acceptance of submissions closes at 11:59 PM on Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Weekly Challenges will continue through August 10th
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Mon, August 03 Release of Weekly Challenge #8 - Tue, Aug 04 Winners of Week 7 announced
Mon, August 10 Release of Last Weekly Challenge #9 - Tue, Aug 11 Winners of Week 8 announced
Tue, August 18 Winners of Week 9 Announced
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Winners of the 2020 iSTART Inventing! Contest will be contacted by email and/or by phone on or before August 10th - Date of Kenya Youth Invention Summit To Be Announced based on developments with COVID-19 travel and group gathering restrictions
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