Finalists Announced for Stratasys’ 12th Annual Extreme Redesign Challenge

Education is one of the quickest growing markets in the 3D printing industry. It makes sense that industry giants would want to foster the next generation of engineers and designers to embrace 3D printing, and they don’t come much bigger than Stratasys. Back in January, I reported that Stratasys was holding their 12th Annual Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge, and now the competition finalists have been announced.

The Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge is a worldwide contest that gives students in secondary and post-secondary educational institutions the opportunity to redesign an existing product, create a new product that improves how a task is accomplished, or design an original work of art or architecture. Entries must include a written description and/or video, as well as an STL file.

Categories include:

Engineering: Secondary Education (middle and high school)

Engineering: Post-Secondary (university, college or post-secondary)

Art or architecture (any grade level)

Entries are evaluated based on creativity, being mechanically sound and being realistically achievable. The regional semi-finalists in each category will receive a 3D printed model of their design. The top ten finalists in each category advance to the final stage of judging and will receive a Stratasys apparel item valued at $50. To view a complete listing, follow the links for the regional semi-finalists and top ten finalists.

Industry experts will select the winners in each category during the final round of judging. The judges are: Tim Shinbara, VP, Manufacturing Technology, Association for Manufacturing Technology; Leslie Langnau, Managing Editor, Design World magazine; Todd Grimm, President, T.A. Grimm & Associates; and Steve Deak, Senior Engineer – Additive Manufacturing, GE & Vice President, AMUG Board.

Stratasys will award first place winners a $2,500 scholarship, with second place winners receiving a $1,000 scholarship. The winner of this year’s new bonus category, “Make a Difference,” will receive a $1,500 scholarship. The instructor of the first-place winner in each category will receive a demo 3D printer to use in the classroom for a limited time. As an added bonus, if your school is an NCATC (National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers) member, you have the chance to be selected as the Coalition’s top entry in the post-secondary category, and the winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship. Winners will be announced this April.Since the contest’s inception, Stratasys has awarded more than $130,000 in scholarships to innovative students. Video, photos and descriptions of previous winning designs, as well as contest rules and regulations, are available on the Stratasys website. It’s great to see a leading company like Stratasys promote innovation and inspire students to create works of art and architecture and to design better products. Hopefully this will just be the first of many competitions that they will enter and they will continue to hone their skills. It’s not just the winners that will benefit from this challenge, and these are some of the young minds that will be creating a better world for us all. What are your thoughts? Discuss in the Stratasys Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge forum over at 3DPB.com.