SP24: Inventathon@HCC - CCIC (Hackathon Challenge)

CCIC 2024 - National Round Rules:

Competition Rules & Eligibility

• Each team must have 2 – 4 student members, and a faculty or administrator at their college who will function as a mentor to the team.
• All student team members must be seeking a two-year degree in the U.S. or its territories at the time of entry (e.g., the spring 2024 semester).
• All team members must be 18 years of age by March 30, 2024.
• Student and faculty/administrator mentor team members must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents and will be required to check a box on the entry form verifying this status.
• Student team members must be in good standing with their academic institution, which is determined by the individual college.
• For teams chosen as finalists, the mentor and students must be available to attend the Innovation Boot Camp to be held in Washington, D.C., from June 10-13, 2024.  
  • Students and faculty/administrator mentors will receive full travel support to attend.
    Air fare and hotel costs will be direct billed to AACC. AACC will reimburse team members for food per diems, and other related travel expenses in accordance with AACC travel policies.
• Teams may not consist of members from multiple institutions. 
• Teams may not have submitted their innovation to any other competition. 
• Students who attended a past Innovation Boot Camp as a finalist/winning team may not enter the CCIC again. 
• Eligible students who submitted an entry to a past CCIC, but did not progress to the final round, may submit an entry in the 2024 CCIC. 
• Faculty/administrator mentors who have attended a past Innovation Boot Camp may lead another team in the 2024 cycle. 
• Employees, contractors, officers, or judges of the sponsoring organizations are not eligible to enter the competition.  

Additional Requirements

Deadline

• All eligible entries must be received during the competition submission window from January 22 – April 2, 2024, by 11:59 p.m. PDT. 

Original Work

• Each team entrant certifies, through submission to the competition, that the entry is their own original, creative work and does not violate or infringe the creative work of others, as protected under U.S. copyright law or patent law.
• Faculty/administrator mentors will be required to sign a certificate stating that the entry is original and has been independently developed by the student members of the team.

Boot Camp Preparation and Participation

• All finalist team members are required to attend the Innovation Boot Camp taking place on June 10-13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
• In addition, all finalist team members are required to participate in two orientation webinars (by attending the live webinars or viewing the recorded versions) and conducting assignments in preparation for the Innovation Boot Camp. 
  • Preparatory assignments include conducting a 3-5 customer discovery interviews, developing a poster for the poster session, and reviewing Boot Camp materials. The first webinar will take place on May 3, 2024 and the second on May 10, 2024. Both webinars will be held from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EDT.
  • Detailed information on conducting interviews and preparing for the poster session will be shared with teams upon their selection as finalists and through the orientation webinars.

Copyright and Promotional Releases

• Entrants retain all intellectual property, copyright, and equivalent rights to their innovation. Entrants give AACC and NSF nonexclusive rights to use their names, likenesses, quotes, or any part of their submission for educational publicity and/or promotional purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, website display, social media promotion, and print materials.
• AACC and NSF will not be responsible for any claims or complaints from third parties about any disputes of ownership regarding the ideas, solutions, images, or video submissions.

Awards

• Winners are responsible for all taxes or other fees connected with the award received.

Reception

• The poster session and reception for CCIC finalists may be held in a federal building. Accordingly, there may be the possibility that a federal government-initiated background check will be required in advance of the event for entry into the building. This requirement would apply to all finalists and their mentors in order to attend the reception and would be communicated with the notifications to the finalist teams.

Code of Conduct

• The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) seeks to foster a welcoming and intellectually stimulating experience for all participants at the Innovation Boot Camp. We expect all CCIC participants, presenters, judges, employees, and staff to recognize that while this event is a place for the open exchange of opinions by diverse individuals, respect and inclusivity for all is expected. In furtherance of this purpose, any behavior, whether personal or professional, that is unwelcome and offensive, or shows disrespect or aggression will not be tolerated. Persons determined by AACC to have engaged in unacceptable behavior may be required to depart the venue and/or be further disqualified from the competition. 

Legal and Administrative

• By entering the competition, the entrants agree to hold harmless, NSF and AACC for all legal and administrative claims to include associated expenses that may arise from any claims related to their submission or its use.
• All contestants agree that they, their heirs and estates shall hold harmless the United States, the employees of the federal government, the employees of NSF and AACC for any and all injuries and/or claims arising from participation in this contest, to include that which may occur while traveling to or participating in contest activities.
• A competition entry constitutes an agreement to adhere to the rules and stipulations set forth by the competition sponsors.
•  Any entrants or entry found in violation of any rule will be disqualified.
• All judges’ decisions are final and may not be appealed.
• AACC reserves the right for any reason, including but not limited to an insufficient number of qualified entries, to modify or cancel the CCIC at any time during the duration of the competition.
• AACC has the final say on any point not outlined in the entry rules.

************

National Round: How to Enter: 

How to Enter

1. 

After confirming eligibility and reviewing this complete site, teams of 2-4 students and a faculty or administrator mentor partner to develop a breakthrough idea that addresses a real-world problem.

Enter Now

2. 

Enter by clicking the Enter Now box above.

• This link takes you to the Competition Entry Platform, which is a separate website.

• Before you submit your entry, the whole team must register:

The team’s mentor must initially register their team and invite all team members to join. All team members must then join and provide the required personal information and upload any required forms. Any team member can then submit the team’s entry by the due date.

3. 

Develop a summary statement and a written entry that describes your innovation.

Summary Statement:  Provide a 500-character summary of your idea/project. The summary should be clear, concise, and written without technical jargon so people are able to understand what the project is, why it matters, and what impact it will have.

Written Entry: Provide a written entry that addresses each of the three sections detailed below. Please note that each section has a specified character limit, including spaces. The written entry should be developed by the student team members. It should not be written by the team’s faculty or administrator mentor.

• The Problem. Clearly and succinctly define the problem of interest. Provide relevant background information and identify the context of the problem (i.e. who is affected, how long has the problem existed). Indicate why it is important that this problem be addressed. (1,600 characters)

• The Solution. Describe your team’s innovative solution. What science and/or technology inform your solution? How is your solution innovative and different from other products/services intended to solve the same problem? What challenges or barriers must be overcome to make your solution a reality? (2,100 characters)

• The Impact and Benefits. Describe how your team would measure the impact and benefits of your solution, if implemented. The societal impact of your innovation such as aiding national security, increasing U.S. global competitiveness, improving quality of life, expanding educational opportunities, etc., must be addressed. (1,600 characters)

4. 

Prepare a 90-second video entry.

• The video entry should consist of a single, 90-second maximum video.

• The video should clearly articulate the problem, the team’s proposed solution to the problem, and how the team’s solution is innovative and unique in addressing the problem.

• The video entry should tell a compelling story and include methods and insights not provided in the written entry to create a novel presentation.

• The video entry should deliver clear and understandable messages using nontechnical language.

• Videos can be shot and edited by someone not on the team; however, the subject(s) of the video and its content must be created by team members.

• Videos do not have to include credits, but if they do, these need to be included in the 90-second time limit.

• If you use a phone to shoot a video, please be sure to shoot horizontally at all times.

• Recording a team Zoom call for the 90-second video and converting it to an MP4 is an option for video submission.

• When creating the video, a good best practice is to talk as if you are reiterating the question in your response. (Ex: “Our proposed solution to the problem is…” Or “Our team’s solution is innovative and different because….”)

• Please see here for additional tips for developing successful videos.

5. 

Upload your video.

• The video can be directly uploaded to the entry platform in any file type. Please maintain a maximum file size of 150 MB.

• Please keep the following tips in mind when uploading:

• Keep file name under 30 characters.

• Do not include special characters in file names.

• Once uploaded, your video will take some time to be rendered depending on size. This can take from 30 seconds to a few minutes or longer.

• You will see a progress bar in this spot while your video is processed.

• Your video will need to be successfully uploaded into the platform before you can submit your application. Please allow enough time prior to the competition deadline to upload your submission video.

6. 

Complete additional entry requirements by providing the following information:

• College name and physical address.

• Entry title (please do not use acronyms).

• Suggested caption for video.

• Suggested credit for video.

• College Twitter account handle.

• College public information or media officer’s contact information (name, email, and phone number).

• Signed and uploaded “Certificate of Authenticity” form signed by the team’s mentor, which can be accessed on the entry platform.

7. 

Proposal Reviews

• All entries and team members will be screened for compliance with the competition rules and eligibility requirements.

• Each entry will be evaluated by a review panel of NSF, AACC, and community college experts based on the judging criteria that will equally weigh the following criteria when scoring Phase I entries:

• Innovation and Impact: An assessment of the proposed solution’s use of STEM to address the problem; potential impact to be transformative in the areas of the economy, quality of life, global competitiveness, education, etc.; and how the proposed solution differs from existing efforts in its use of novel concepts, methods, and/or technology.

• Feasibility: An assessment of the likelihood that the solution will work as presented and can be replicated; and an evaluation of the team’s recognition of potential barriers and suggestions for ways in which these barriers may be addressed.

• Clarity of Communication: An assessment of the team’s compliance with all entry guidelines (written and video entries), including structure, organization of facts and data, and the inclusion of clear, consistent messaging.

8. 

• Up to 12 of the highest-scoring entries will be selected for the final round of the competition.

• Teams will be notified if they become a finalist in late April 2024 with detailed instructions on how to prepare for the Innovation Boot Camp and must participate in two webinars to cover all Boot Camp logistics and required preparation. Please plan to attend the following two webinars:

• The first webinar, “Community College Innovation Challenge: Welcome & Orientation to the Innovation Boot Camp”, will be held on Friday, May 3 from 1:00 – 2:30 pm EDT. This webinar will highlight expectations and agenda items for Boot Camp participation, discuss the poster session and pitch presentation, provide guidance on mentoring and coaching support, and offer the opportunity for attendees to ask questions of the CCIC organizers.

• The second webinar, "The Customer Discovery Journey in STEM Innovation” will be held on Tuesday, May 10 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. EDT. This webinar will provide participants with an overview of the Customer Discovery process, which is a key element of Innovation Boot Camp training. In addition, CCIC finalist teams will be tasked with a Customer Discovery assignment to complete in advance of attending the Innovation Boot Camp.

• The faculty mentor and student team members are required to attend the live webinars and/or view the webinar recordings if they are unable to attend the live events. AACC and NSF strongly encourage all team members to take part in the live webinars and/or view the recorded versions to ensure that teams are oriented to the Boot Camp, understand expectations for both Boot Camp participation and activities that need to be completed prior to participating, and have an opportunity to ask questions.