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Special Competitions
Meeting of the Minds has always included a competition segment in
the Symposium, sponsored by several University organizations. If
you would like to compete, or are required to, please read the following
information and check the appropriate box on the online registration
form. The deadline for registration is April 2, 2008. Competitors will be required to attend the Awards Ceremony at 5:00 p.m. held at the Meeting of the Minds on May 7.
Sigma Xi Poster Competition
Lockheed Martin Eta Kappa Nu ECE Project Awards
CIT Honors Poster Competition
Phi Kappa Phi Competition
The Allen Newell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Psychology Department Competition
Undergraduate Environmental Research Award
Elizabeth Jones Award
Ford Motor Company Undergraduate
Research Awards
Award for Artistic Excellence
Bose Competition
STUDIO for Creative Inquiry Award
Richard Schoenwald Phi Beta Kappa Undergraduate Research Prize
Alumni Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Computer Science
Statistics Competition
IBM Undergraduate "Innovation that Matters" Award
Yahoo! Undergraduate Research Awards
Intel IFYRE Poster
Competition
'Thought' Prize for Excellence in Research Presentation
Sigma Xi Poster
Competition
The Sigma Xi poster competition is an independently
sponsored event within the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Coordinated
by the Carnegie Mellon chapter of Sigma Xi, a national honor society
for those engaging in scientific research, the competition is open
to students presenting posters in the quantitative sciences. In
the past this has included students from the life sciences, physical
sciences, engineering, and quantitative social sciences. You will
be assigned a time to give a short presentation next to your poster.
(The use of laptops should be allowed only to present data such
as movies or time lapse of an experiment. They should not be used
as a substitution of the poster, but only for data or images that
are difficult to print or be represented on paper.) A panel of judges
judges drawn from the University and industry will rate your presentation
using the following equally-weighted criteria:
-abstract quality (clear, concise,appropriate length)
-clarity of objective
-organization of thoughts
-general quality of work
-significance of work
-oral presentation skills
-visual presentation quality
-response to questions
Finalists will be selected for the finalist session of presentations
and will be announced at the Symposium welcome at 2:30pm in Kirr
Commons. The final round will take place from 3-5pm in Rangos 2
and 3.
Cash prizes will be awarded and winners will be announced at the
awards ceremony at 5pm in McConomy Auditorium.
To compete in the Sigma Xi poster competition you must register
for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by April 2, 2008.
Annual Lockheed
Martin ECE Undergraduate Project Awards
Sponsored by Lockheed Martin, Organized by Eta Kappa Nu, Sigma,
PA
The Sigma Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu at Carnegie Mellon
is proud to present the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
Project Awards sponsored by Lockheed Martin. This competition is
designed to encourage undergraduate ECE students to present their
class/research projects, and motivate them to learn from others'
work.
Eligible projects must be done in the 2007-2008 academic year.
The project must have a course number associated with it. CIT Honors
research projects, as well as Sophomore, Junior, and Senior ECE
course projects meet this requirement. Every project must have the
support of a faculty member. Entries in other contests are welcomed.
Group projects are also welcomed, but at least 50% of the students
in a group must be undergraduates. Any one person may only have
two entries in the contest. Every entry must have a project poster,
and all entries must be submitted by April 4th. Special circumstances
will be discussed on a case by case basis.
Projects will be judged by a panel of ECE faculty and Lockheed
Martin representatives. The ECE Faculty and Lockheed Martin representatives
will be decided after April 2, 2008, the registration deadline.
All students will be asked to give an oral presentation for the
judges. All judges' decisions will be final, and the following judging
criteria will be used:
-Abstract quality
-Clarity of objective
-Organization of thoughts
-General quality of work
-Oral presentation skills
-Visual presentation
-Quality response to questions
A total of $2500 will be awarded to 7 projects:
First Prize: The winning project will be awarded $750.
Runners-Up: Two runners-up will be awarded $500 each.
Judges' Choices: Three additional outstanding projects will receive
$250 each.
All winning projects must be willing to turn over their project
posters to the ECE department at Carnegie Mellon University.
CIT Honors Poster
Competition
All CIT Honors students are
required to present their work at the
Undergraduate Research Symposium on May 7, 2008. Please do not
schedule any activities (job interviews, plant trips, etc.) which
might conflict with your participation. You will be assigned to
the "CIT Poster Session" during which a panel of faculty
and
industry judges will circulate. You should be prepared to present
a brief overview of your project and answer any questions.
(Laptops or other equipment are permitted.) Three cash prizes will
be awarded.
The criteria for the prizes will
be similar to those used by Sigma
Xi, except that no formal presentation is involved. Instead, the
presentation will be informal and interactive as the judges
circulate. The criteria will be as follows, equally weighted:
-abstract quality (clear, concise, appropriate length)
-clarity of objective
-organization of thoughts
-general quality of work
-significance of work
-oral presentation skills
-visual presentation quality
-response to questions
During the first round of judging, students should be prepared to
speak for about 5-10 minutes about their work using their poster
as their visual aid. The second round of judging will allow each
finalist a 10 minute presentation (again using their poster as a
visual aid) and a short question and answer session with the
judges and audience.
Finalists will be selected for the finalist session of
presentations and will be announced at the Symposium welcome at
2:30pm in Kirr Commons. The final round will take place from 3-5pm
in Rangos 1.
You may obtain a poster board from Kourtney Kissel in Scaife Hall
110 the week of April 21, 2008.
Phi Kappa Phi
Competition
Open only to members of Phi Kappa Phi
Each undergraduate member of Phi Kappa Phi is eligible
to participate in this competition by noting his or her preference
to do so on the application. Each presentation will be reviewed
by a panel of judges consisting of staff and faculty who are members
of the society. Projects will be evaluated based upon the following
criteria: abstract quality, clarity of the objective, organization
of thought, general quality of the work, significance of the work,
oral presentation skills, visual presentation quality, creativity
and originality, and response to questions. There will be at least
two awards presented at the ceremony following the symposium though
the judges reserve the right to present additional awards as merited.
The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony at 5pm in
McConomy Auditorium. To compete in the Phi Kappa Phi competition,
you must register for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by April 2, 2008.
The Allen Newell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
This endowed grant recognizes outstanding undergraduate research in Allen's scientific style rather than computer science research in a particular area, i.e., a good idea is not enough. Allen Newell had a long and rich scientific career that contributed to multiple subdisciplines in computer science. The qualities that transform a good idea into good science can be captured in three maxims attributable to Allen: 1) Good science responds to real phenomena or real problems. 2) Good science is in the details. 3) Good science makes a difference.
Psychology Department
Competition
The department of Psychology is sponsoring a poster/presentation
competition for all undergraduate students who are presently advised
by a member of the psychology department. A panel of faculty judges
will evaluate each project on the following criteria:
- Quality of the work
- Clarity of the objectives
- Significance of the work
- Creativity of the work
- Oral presentation (weighted more for talks)
- Visual representation (weighted more for posters)
- Response to questions
All students should be prepared to present a brief overview of
their research and to answer questions regarding their work.
A cash prize will be awarded and Psychology Head, Dr. Michael Scheier,
will announce the winner at the awards ceremony at 5pm in McConomy
Auditorium.
Undergraduate Environmental
Research Award
All Undergraduate Research Symposium participants
undertaking projects with a strong environmental component are eligible
to enter the competition for the Undergraduate Environmental Research
Award. This award is sponsored by the Steinbrenner Institute for
Environmental Education and Research and the Green Design Initiative.
To compete for this award you must check the appropriate box on
the registration form. You may apply for this award in addition
to applying for other awards such as the CIT Honors Poster Competition,
Sigma Xi Poster competition etc.
A panel of judges will rate your poster or presentation using the
following criteria:
Significance of project with respect to improving or protecting
the environment (25% of points):
-Abstract quality (15%)
-Clarity of Objective (15%)
-General quality of Work (15%)
-Quality of Poster or Presentation (15%)
-Response to Questions (15%)
The award winner will receive a cash prize of $200. The winner
will be announced at the awards ceremony at 5pm in McConomy Auditorium.
To compete in the competition, you must register for the Undergraduate
Research Symposium by April 2, 2008 and check off the box for the
Undergraduate Environmental Research Award.
Elizabeth Jones
Award
The Elizabeth Jones Award, made possible by a generous
contribution from Biological Sciences Professor Elizabeth Jones,
is for outstanding work in the Humanities and Fine Arts. Poster
presentations, oral presentations, visual arts and performances
in the humanities and fine arts are all eligible for this award.
Semi-finalists will be chosen from abstracts submitted with symposium
registrations. Semi-finalists will be notified prior to the symposium.
Judges will attend presentations/performances the day of the symposium
to select award winners. Winners will be announced at the Awards
Ceremony in McConomy Auditorium beginning at 5 PM the day of the
symposium.
To compete, students must register for the Undergraduate Research
Symposium by April 2, 2008, and indicate on the registration form
the desire to enter the Elizabeth Jones Competition.
Ford Motor Company
Undergraduate Research Awards
Ford Motor Company is proud to reward environmental
or automotive-related research through participation in the Undergraduate
Research Symposium. The award program is designed to encourage undergraduate
students to pursue environmental and automotive research projects
through systematic recognition and cash awards.
Eligible projects must deal with environmental or automotive related
topics, and must be original research completed individually or
as a group. Research may cover a wide range of disciplines, with
some examples being broad environmental policy issues, vehicle emissions
modeling, automotive business modeling, or electrical system development
with applications in automobiles. Senior honors theses and large
projects completed for course credit are eligible, as well as more
traditional independent research projects. Group projects are welcome,
but at least 50% of the team must consist of undergraduates. All
entries must have a project poster, and all participants will be
required to make an oral presentation to the judges during the Symposium.
The panel of judges will be made up of Carnegie Mellon alumni that
are currently employed by Ford Motor Company. Along with the oral
presentation, the following criteria will be used for evaluation
by the judges:
- Relevance to the automotive industry or environmental issues
- Abstract Quality
- Clarity of Objective
- Organization of Thoughts
- General Quality of Work
- Oral Presentation Skills
- Visual Presentation
- Quality of responses to questions
Finalists for the awards will be selected after the initial round
of interviews, with a second round of interviews amongst the finalists
taking place during the finalist session.
The decision of the judges will be final, and all interested participants
must register with the Symposium by April 2, 2008. Students must
check the appropriate box to ensure that they are registered for
this specific competition. Competing in any other award program
does not preclude registration with the Ford Research Awards.
A total of $1000 will be awarded to the top three projects. The
first place project will receive $500, second place $300, and third
place $200.
Award for Artistic
Excellence
The Award for Artistic Excellence is sponsored by
engineers in support of the arts. Visual and performing arts presentations
are eligible for this award. Semi-finalists will be chosen from
abstracts submitted with symposium registrations. Semi-finalists
will be notified prior to the symposium. Judges will attend presentations/performances
the day of the symposium to select award winners. Winners will be
announced at the Awards Ceremony in McConomy Auditorium beginning
at 5 PM the day of the symposium.
To compete, students must register for the Undergraduate Research
Symposium by April 2, 2008, and indicate on the registration form
the desire to enter the Award for Artistic Excellence competition.
Bose Competition
Bose is proud to sponsor its seventh annual competition
within the
Undergraduate Research Symposium. This poster competition is open
to
all students presenting on any of the current Bose business areas including: audio, video, or feedback systems. Some ideas of research topics include but are not limited to: user experience, embedded systems, education, digital signal processing or technology. Bose will award prizes for the top two posters; a Wave(r) Music System will be awarded
for first place and a set of QuietComfort(r) 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling(r) Headphones will be awarded for second place.
To participate in the poster competition, you must check the appropriate box on the registration form. You will be assigned a time to give a five to ten minute presentation next to your poster. A panel of judges comprised of Bose engineers will rate your presentation using the following criteria:
-Abstract quality (clear, concise, appropriate length)
-Clarity of objective
-Organization of thoughts
-General quality of work
-Significance of work
-Oral and visual presentation
-Creativity and originality of the solution and approach
-Response to questions
Winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded at the awards ceremony at 5pm in McConomy Auditorium. To compete in the Bose competition, you must register for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by April 2, 2008.
STUDIO for Creative
Inquiry Award
$350 for a student project that exemplifies or explores the zone
between art/science and society: and embodies the mission of the
STUDIO for Creative Inquiry which is to support creation and exploration
in the arts, especially interdisciplinary projects that bring together
the arts, science technology and the humanities and impact local
and global communities.
The project should be directed by an artist or by a team that includes
an artist.
The project should have a public component, that communicates with
a community.
It's manifestation should reach a public or community audience.
It should contain or be influenced by science.
Selection Criteria
Artistic strength
Interdisciplinary/Collective/collaboration in the project
Evidence of or potential for artistic/cultural/social impact
Community relationship is clear
Winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded at the awards
ceremony at 5pm in McConomy Auditorium. To compete in the Bose competition,
you must register for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by April 2, 2008.
Richard Schoenwald
Phi Beta Kappa Undergraduate Research Prize
Open only to members of Phi Beta Kappa
This award is sponsored by CMU's Phi Beta Kappa chapter and named
after Dr. Richard Schoenwald, late professor of History. Dr. Schoenwald
was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a proponent of undergraduate involvement
in research, and the leader of CMU's first application effort (in
the early 1970's) to shelter a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Carnegie
Mellon. A cash prize totaling $500 will be awarded to the winner(s)
of this award (a maximum of 3 winners will be selected). Undergraduate
student members of the chapter (this includes Fall 2006 initiates
and those approved for the May 2007 initiation) who present projects
in liberal arts and sciences at the Undergraduate Research Symposium
are eligible for this award. The abstracts of all eligible students
will be reviewed by a faculty committee, and approximately 10 finalists
will be selected and notified prior to the symposium date. Judges
will attend the finalists' symposium presentations and will use
these presentations as the final component in their deliberations
and selection.
Please note that the registration deadline for the symposium may
occur *before* May 2008 offers of Phi Beta Kappa membership are
mailed to students. If so, most of you will not know if you are
eligible for the Schoenwald Prize at the time that you register
for the symposium (and will be unable to sign up under the "Special
Competitions"). However, once the group of May 2008 candidates
has been finalized, these names will be cross-checked with symposium
registrants. All students eligible for the Schoenwald Prize will
automatically be considered.
Winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded at the awards
ceremony at 5pm in McConomy Auditorium. To compete in the Phi Beta
Kappa competition, you must register for the Undergraduate Research
Symposium by April 2, 2008.
Alumni Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Computer Science
The Alumni Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Computer Science, established in 2003, is granted on behalf of Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science alumni. The Award recognizes technical excellence in research and development. The Award is also intended to promote awareness within the undergraduate community that graduation represents both the end of an important phase of life and the beginning of a new phase within the vibrant Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science community as alumnus. The Alumni Award recognizes such factors as contribution to the state of teh art; technical excellence; potential societal impact; accessibility; quality of the written, oral, and poster presentations; and generated excitement amont the alumni community participating in the process.
Statistics Competition
This competition is sponsored by the Department
of Statistics. Its purpose is to encourage undergraduate projects
and research in statistics, and to inform faculty and students about
these projects.
The competition is open to any student or team of students who
have completed a project under supervision of a Statistics faculty
member. At least half the members of the team must be enrolled in
an undergraduate program in the spring semester of 2008, not necessarily
at Carnegie Mellon University. A panel of judges will rate the projects
according to the following criteria:
-quality of abstract
-clarity of objective
-organization of thoughts
-general quality of work
-significance of work
-oral presentation skills
-visual presentation quality
-appropriate use of statistical methods
-responses to questions
The first place winner or team will receive $500.
Winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded at the awards
ceremony at 5pm in McConomy Auditorium. To compete, students must
register for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by April 2, 2008.
IBM Undergraduate "Innovation That Matters" Award
IBM, in association with the CMU ACM Student Chapter, is proud to sponsor the Undergraduate "Innovation That Matters" Award. One of IBM's bedrock principles is to create "Innovation that Matters." This award is rooted in the belief that the very nature of innovation has changed in the early days of the 21st century. It is increasingly open, collaborative, multi-disciplinary and global. This shift means that the truly revolutionary innovations of our time -- the ones that will create new markets, redefine old ones, and maybe even change the world for the better – require the participation and knowledge across multiple disciplines with a diversity of approaches/thought patterns. This award is designed to challenges some of the brightest minds on the planet -- CMU Undergraduates -- no matter what their field of study – to to collaboratively advance the state of society through interdisciplinary research.
To compete for this award you must check the appropriate box on the registration form. You may apply for this award in addition to applying for other awards.
A panel of judges from IBM will rate your poster or presentation based upon the following criteria:
- The extent to which your project is Innovative and represents new and creative thought
- The extent to which your project matters to your Profession, Business, Government, and Society
- The extent to which your project approach was Open, collaborative, Multi-disciplinary, and Global
- Quality of your Poster or Presentation in explaining your innovation
- Response to Questions
Two awards will be presented, each for $250. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony at 5 pm in McConomy Auditorium.
To compete for this award, you must register for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by April 2, 2008 and check off the box for the IBM Undergraduate "Innovation that Matters" Award
Yahoo! Undergraduate Research Awards
Yahoo! will be looking for interesting and creative projects that lie in the intersection areas between computer and information sciences and the business or social science domains.
Two awards of $250 each will be announced at the awards ceremony at 5pm in McComomy Auditorium. To compete, students must register for the Undergraduate Research Symposium by April 2, 2008.
The Intel IFYRE
Poster Competition
Open only to IFYRE students
Students who have participated in the Intel First Year Research
Experience (IFYRE) program during the 2007-2008 academic year or
the preceding summer are eligible to enter in the 2008 Intel IFYRE
Poster Competition. This competition seeks to recognize significant
and creative work supported by the IFYRE program and to encourage
students to develop and practice visual and oral presentation skills
suitable for academic conferences and industrial research venues.
A first-place ($500) and two runner-up ($250 each) cash prizes will
be awarded. Entrants must register for the Undergraduate Research
Symposium and the IFYRE Poster Competition by April 2, 2008.
Eligible projects must have been supported by the IFYRE program
within the 2007-2008 academic year or the preceding summer. All
entrants must be undergraduates. Work done as part of a larger group
or lab project is welcome, but the poster and presentation should
focus specifically on the research work done by the participating
IFYRE student(s). Group projects involving multiple IFYRE students
may compete as a single poster entry or as an entry per student.
(In the former case the poster should cover all the students' work
and all students should be present for the poster session, and in
the latter case each poster should focus on that individual student's
contributions.) Students involved in any sort of group effort should
be prepared to explain the overall context and goal of the effort
as well as their own contributions. Group entries will split the
relevant prize amount if chosen for an award. Any one person may
participate in no more than two entries in the contest. Every entry
must have a project poster. Special circumstances will be discussed
on a case by case basis.
The Intel Research Pittsburgh laboratory will provide poster printing
services for students participating in this contest. Students are
required to use the official IFYRE poster template (poster size
will be 24x34 inches) to maintain a uniform overall look and feel
and encourage judges and others to evaluate each poster on the merits
of its research rather than its overall graphic design. Posters
should be submitted as power-point files by May 1 and will be delivered
to the contest venue. By prior arrangement made before May 1, printed
posters can also be picked up at the Intel lab in advance of the
contest.
During judging, all students will be asked to give an oral presentation
of 5-10 minutes duration about their work using their poster as
their visual aid. Where a video, animation, or demonstration is
helpful in explaining the work the student may also refer to supporting
exhibits displayed on a computer, but the poster must capture the
core of the work. Judges, who will be identified with name badges,
may visit each poster individually or in groups, and poster presenters
should be prepared to explain their work to passerby and other students
as well as judges. If necessary, the judges may select a number
of finalists and revisit their posters as a group near the end of
the judging period.
The judging panel will include Intel representatives and may include
CMU faculty. The judges will be chosen after April 4, the registration
deadline. All judges' decisions will be final.
The following judging criteria will be used:
- Quality, creativity, significance, and potential impact of the
work (40%)
- Clarity of the objectives, and quality of visual presentation
(30%)
- Clarity and quality of oral presentation and response to questions
(30%)
A total of $1000 will be awarded to 3 projects:
First Prize: The winning project will be awarded $500.
Runners-Up: Two runners-up will be awarded $250 each.
To compete, eligible students must register for the Undergraduate
Research Symposium by April 2, 2008, and indicate on the registration
form the desire to enter the Intel IFYRE Poster Competition.
Thought Prize for Excellence in Research Presentation
Thought, Carnegie Mellon's Undergraduate Research Journal, will award $150 to the research article that most closely matches their submission quidelines. Students must both submit articles to Thought's 2008 issue AND enroll to present their research at Meeting of the Minds to be eligilble to win the award. For more information, including Thought's submission guidelines, visit www.cmuthought.org.
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