2024 International Material Selection Challenge
Welcome to the Ansys International Material Selection Challenge - An educational event gathering students from multiple countries in a competition to showcase the most innovative uses of materials and simulation.
It’s a fantastic opportunity for future engineers, designers, or architects to apply the knowledge learned in class and put it to the test in a friendly, international, and culturally diverse contest.
Supervising faculty members are invited to submit a 300-word abstract on behalf of their students to materialselectionchallenge@ansys.com. The deadline for abstracts is July 15th 2024.
Finalists will be invited to an online event with optional in-person attendance at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in November.
We look forward to seeing your ideas.
Who is Eligible to Participate?
The competition is open for university-level students who use Ansys Granta EduPack in their courses. You can participate individually or in groups (maximum of three people). To participate in this challenge, you must propose a project in which material selection is the decisive factor in its development. Each team must be mentored by a tutor who guides the students through the process and submits the required documents. There is a limit of two projects per tutor, and different students must be involved in each project. There is a limit of two projects per tutor, and different students must be involved in each project.
DATE | DELIVERY |
March 1st 2024 | Abstract submission open (300 words maximum) |
July 15th 2024 | Abstract submission deadline (300 words maximum) |
August 15th 2024 | Successful abstracts announced |
September 1st 2024 | Final project submission deadline (Word document and PowerPoint slides using the provided templates) |
September 30th 2024 | Finalists announced
|
November 6th 2024 | Final: presentations, jury decision, and award ceremony at Moncloa Campus of the Technical University of Madrid. |
First round: Successful projects notified by August 15th
The first round of judging is based on the submitted abstracts.
The jury will base its decision on the following criteria:
- Originality of the proposed problem
- Variety of Ansys Granta EduPack tools used in the project (charts, limit, and tree stages, Eco Audit, Synthesizer etc)
- Complexity of the calculations necessary to carry out the project
- Authenticity of the problem to a real-life material selection scenario
- For example, this problem may consist of substituting materials currently used to manufacture a product so that this substitution offers an economical, physical or environmental advantage. Another possibility is to solve old material selection problems using new methods that are more in line with current techniques.
- Use of simulation tools to illustrate and verify the chosen materials.
The academic year of the students will be taken into consideration.
All applicants will be contacted by August 15th with the decision.
Second round: Submit final project by September 1st
Teams with successful abstracts will have until September 1st to prepare their final projects. Each project must include the following:
- A written document (4 pages maximum) describing the proposed Material Selection Challenge and the methodology used to solve it.
- An appendix document (3 pages maximum) with the calculations and figures required to develop and solve the proposed problem.
- A presentation (5 slides maximum) summarizing the project content.
IMPORTANT: It is mandatory to present the projects using the templates provided in the links below. Projects that do not follow these formats and file extensions (including font type, size, and line spacing) will not be accepted.
Once complete, send project documents to materialselectionchallenge@ansys.com by September 1st.
Submitted projects will undergo judging according to the previously established criteria. Teams will be notified of the judges' decisions by September 30th.
Final round: Presentations on November 6th
The final presentations will be delivered on November 6th, either virtually or in person, at the International Excellence Campus in Moncloa (UCM-UPM) in Madrid. Teams will present their work in front of a jury composed of university professors and members from the Ansys Academic team. The maximum length of the presentation will be 10 minutes per project and will be limited to the PowerPoint document previously submitted. The presentation of documents other than those previously submitted for the project will not be accepted.
The competition jury will consider the following:
- Completeness: Did the project achieve its initial goals and adapt creatively to challenges?
- Tool Mastery: How well have the tools in Ansys Granta EduPack been used? To what level?
- Project Originality: How original is the project? i.e., methodologies used, use of the software and other simulation tools, and bibliography.
- Practical Applicability: Does the project find a realistic solution to the relevant industry?
- Depth of Analysis: Considering team size and student background, how clear and concise are the findings?
- Student Motivation: How creatively have the students used the knowledge of materials acquired in their courses, with their imagination and ingenuity?
Awards
All participants (both students and teachers) who submit their project before September 1st, and meet all the above requirements, will receive a Certificate of Participation. In addition, the top three projects presented on November 6th will receive the following awards*:
All finalist projects will be eligible for publication report on the Ansys Education Resources webpage.
*Prizes may be declared void if entries do not meet the minimum quality required by the jury.
