Fall 2011 Student LED Challenge

By Naomi Price 2 Comments May 30, 2011

This Challenge ended on December 15, 2011 and the winners were announced on January 20, 2012.

Seventy teams from across America signed up for this second LED Challenge and received kits of LED electronics components and a microcontroller from the sponsors, Digi-Key and Microchip. With help from video, whitepaper, and forum instructions on the iGEN site, the teams designed and created colorful LED displays to highlight something important in their community or school.  

From a model of the Golden Gate Bridge to one of the Stanley Hotel, the teams made some fabulously creative entries. The winning team was the Spectacular Seven from Oak Canyon Junior High in Lindon, UT.  Click here to read about the winners and see all of the completed entries.  

Middle and High School Teachers: Apply for a free materials kit valued at $150 and training to create an LED (light emitting diode) project and compete for a $3,000 grand prize!

See the winners of our previous Student LED Design Challenge

Fall 2011 Student LED Challenge logoEE Times’ Innovation Generation is partnering with Digi-Key Corp. and Microchip on a design challenge for students that seeks to inspire middle-school and high-school students to learn about electronics and use a microcontroller to control colorful light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in a project created by a student team led by a teacher and assisted by parents.

The theme for this Challenge centers on “Community or School Pride,” so teams will create an LED project that highlights something important to their community or school. Is your town or city the beef capital of North America or the home of the half-sour pickle? Has your school won a science-fair competition or a sports championship? Well, here’s your opportunity to use a free kit of LEDs and electronic components to show the world you live in a special community or attend a stand-out school worthy of recognition.

You will also find on the iGEN Website information, photos, and videos of projects that won recognition in the first LED Student Design Challenge completed in May 2011. And the site provides places to ask questions of technical experts and get assistance with projects.
 

USASEF_promo300px.jpgPhase I: Essay Entry
In the first phase of the challenge, middle- and high-school teachers apply for a grant by submitting an essay of up to 500 words describing how learning about basic electronics, LEDs, and microcontrollers will enhance their student’s understanding of science and engineering. The entries should describe how the teachers will integrate the competition into their school curriculum. Grant recipients will receive a $150 LED parts kit with microcontroller and online training materials to build a project. For more detailed information, please see the “Stage 1: Essay Entries” section of the Challenge Rules.

Deadline for grant application: July 31, 2011
Grant application

Phase II: LED Project and Design Challenge
LED project kits will be shipped to 50 grant recipients for use by student teams in the classroom to create an LED project using the kit components.

Teams are encouraged to create a “profile” on the iGEN Website to post their project progress and questions via the iGEN forum. LED experts and the iGEN TEAM of engineers will provide support to teachers and teams via the iGEN forum.

Deadline for project submissions: December 15, 2011
Challenge guidelines
Project submission guidelines
Challenge rules

Prizes:

Grand Prize (1)
• One trip for the winning teacher to the Embedded Systems Conference March 26-29, 2012 in San Jose, CA. The winning teacher and class project will be honored at UBM’s ACE Awards Ceremony at the conference.
• $2,000 in-kind grant to purchase STEM-based materials for student/classroom learning for the winning teacher’s entry.
• LED kit valued at $150.00
• Project will be featured on iGEN Website with a first place digital banner

Runners Up – Honorable Mention
• $150 BOM grant to purchase STEM-based materials for student/classroom learning
• Project will be featured on iGEN Website with an “honorable mention” digital banner

Here are a few resources to help you get started on learning about LEDs.
• How to work with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
• Video tutorials
• Previous Challenge winning entries

Questions? Email us at naomi.price@ubm.com.

And good luck!

Discussion2 Comments

  1. Reply DraakUSA says Apr 3, 2012

    Apparently, according to the first line, the winners were announced before the end of the challenge. :-)

  2. Reply Naomi Price says Apr 3, 2012

    Thank you for catching that mistake DRAAKUSA! Also fixed an html error that was keeping most of the article from appearing in Internet Explorer. Both problems are fixed now.

Leave a Comment