Announcing the SOLIDWORKS xDesign SAE Challenge

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SAE xDessign Challenge

Are you ready for the first SOLIDWORKS xDesign challenge for SAE? All SAE Collegiate Design teams within the United States have the chance to work on their creative design and collaboration skills, and three teams will win a grand prize of $3,000, with six runner-up teams winning $1,000. Teams can register here, starting today! The contest begins at 12:00am EST on August 1st.

SOLIDWORKS xDesign Challenge Theme

Firemen, EMTs, and rescue pilots are the heroes of today. Every day, emergency responders put themselves in harm’s way, from wild fires, to hurricanes, to burning buildings, to medical emergencies, and beyond. With ever-depleting resources, rough terrain, cities and townships with poorly designed and maintained infrastructures, and an increasing amount of wildfires, the path an emergency responder walks is not easy. Their vehicles count as members of their teams. Emergency professionals putting themselves in harm’s way should have nothing but the best. That’s why SOLIDWORKS wants SAE teams to help envision the future of care.

SAE teams are challenged with building the rescue vehicles of the future. Each team will choose from the following vehicle types and design the exterior of the vehicle and one (1) of the subsystems noted below. A prize of $3,000 will be awarded to the winning teams in each vehicle category, with six teams winning a runner-up prize of $1,000. Further details can be found on the SOLIDWORKS xDesign SAE Challenge website. Teams can choose to design one of the following:

  •         Fire truck
  •         Ambulance
  •         Helitack helicopter

Each team must submit a design showing the exterior of their chosen vehicle, along with a specific subsystem for that vehicle. More details can be found on the challenge website.

How It Works

Each participating SAE team, comprised of 5 or more members, will work on one of the above design challenges using SOLDIWORKS xDesign. SOLIDWORKS xDesign is a cloud-based 3D CAD solution that can run in any browser and on any device, with no installs on the machines required. It’s easy to use in a collaborative way and is already pushing the limits of what can achieved using the 3D tools of the future. Teams will have five weeks to work on their designs. Each team will design and submit one (1) contest entry.  The final submission date is August 30th at 11:59pm EST. Teams will be judged on creativity of design and ideas, their 3DEXPERIENCE Community usage, and complexity of design. Winners will be announced in September 9, 2019 EST. Learn more about the judging criteria here.

The 3DEXPERIENCE Community is an online community where teams can showcase their story, share their experiences, and interact with other teams. Whenever you post to the community, be sure to use the following hashtags: #ContestEntry #[SAE Team Name] for you participation to be considered valid. For example, a title of a post could be written as “File Import/Export Questions #TeamCAD #ContestEntry”. We encourage teams to share their initial designs and post to social media using the hashtag #SAExDesignChallenge, but it won’t affect scoring. It’s just fun to share!

Increase Your Chances of Winning

Plan well and early! Three team members can work on the actual 3D CAD design while two can work on documenting your team’s journey, or whatever set up works best for your team. Documenting the design process is integral to any design or engineering workflow, and the 3DEXPERIENCE Community is a great place for collegiate teams to work on their documentation skills with a platform utilized by professionals. It’s also a great place to connect with other teams involved in the challenge. You can make posts, ask questions, or just say hi to other SAE teams across the country. This challenge is about you and what your team can achieve.

How to Get Access to SOLIDWORKS xDesign

All collegiate SAE teams in the United States are eligible to participate in the SOLIDWORKS xDesign Challenge for SAE Teams. This includes SAE Aero Design, AutoDrive Challenge™, Baja SAE, SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, Formula Hybrid, Formula SAE®, Formula SAE® Electric, and SAE Supermileage teams.

Once a team registers, we will follow up with an email invitation that contains a link to join the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. Then it’s design time!

How to Submit

Each team will submit one (1) entry. The team must submit a zip file containing the following:

  • A contest entry document that answers the following questions, with a max of 250 words per question:
    • How would your design revolutionize the industry?
    • Explain the story behind your design inspiration.
    • How did you use SOLIDWORKS xDesign tools to create your model or design?
  • Up to three (3) presentation sheets.  PDF or JPEG files will be accepted. While teams are encouraged to be creative with the composition of these three sheets, teams must show the FRONT, SIDE, TOP and ISOMETRIC/ PERSPECTIVE views of your model in at least one of the presentation sheets. We love creativity. Use your imagination here to increase your chances of winning one of the prizes.
  • A one-minute or less video or animation of your Team’s Design.
  • A color rendering of the exterior of your vehicle.

Please note, designs must be created using only SOLIDWORKS xDesign. Teams may import up to 25% of their design from SOLIDWORKS only—no other product will be allowed and use of any other design product will result in disqualification. Teams electing to import from SOLIDWORKS must submit their imported geometry files as part of their entry.

Teams must also invite the contest administrator to their collaborative space that contains their design.  Details can be found on the challenge website.

Need Help?

This is a big project using new technology, but don’t worry—we’re not going to leave teams in a lurch. You can find tailor-made “how-to” video tutorials on the SOLIDWORKS xDesign SAE Challenge website. These videos will cover various aspects of the software and help teams transition from getting started with SOLIDWORKS xDesign and the 3DEXPEREINCE Platform to using both to their fullest capabilities. Teams can also post questions, ideas, and more to the community and work collaboratively to make their design shine. We will also be hosting live webinars on August 6 at 9AM EST and 4PM EST, where teams can have their questions answered live by our employees. This webinar will be recorded and added to the contest website and dashboard. We encourage all participating teams to register for the webinar using this link: SAE xDesign Challenge Webinar.

Questions?

E-mail SOLIDWORKS.EDU-studentcontest@3ds.com and we’ll be more than happy to help you out.

We can’t wait to see all the incredible designs and see your team’s vision for the future of first responder vehicles!

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE OR PAYMENT DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. The SOLIDWORKS xDesign SAE Challenge is open only to U.S. SAE teams registered for the 2019/2020 SAE Competition season prior to 7/29/2019. Teams must have a minimum of 5 members who are college students 18+ and who are legal residents of one of the 50 U.S. States or D.C. Void elsewhere and where prohibited. Contest ends 8/30/2019. Subject to complete Official Rules, which include judging criteria and full eligibility/entry/prize details.

Sara Zuckerman

Sara Zuckerman

Sara Zuckerman is a Content Marketing Specialist in Brand Offer Marketing for SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS.