Entry Guidelines
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Please note the competition is now closed and the voting of the short-listed entries has begun, so please be sure to vote for your favourite poster showing “An object for the classroom of the future”.
Welcome to Imaginate 2009. For guidelines on how to enter in a few easy steps view the video or follow the written instructions below. If you are a teacher wishing to run Imaginate 2009 in a 40 minute class then please click on the teachers' guideline video on the right for full instructions.
Step 1:
Register online.
There are two categories which are divided by school year so during registration you will be asked to select one of the following categories 1st -3rd year or 4th -6th year. Also be sure to read and accept the terms and conditions. Once you have registered you will receive a personal Imaginator number and all the details you need to enter.
Step2:
Design an object for the classroom of the future.
So now you need to use your imagination to create a new product (it can be anything!) that you think should be in the classroom of the future. You can design anything that your imagination can dream up. Remember your design can be any physical object or product that you think should exist in the classroom of the future.
Next create a poster showing your new design. You will need a sheet of paper, standard A4 or bigger if you want. Now draw your design on the paper. You can draw it using pens, pencils, markers etc or alternatively you can draw your design on a computer and print it out. All designs must be accompanied by a product description (minimum 20 words) written on the front of the poster which describes your new product's features and telling us what it is and how it works.
Once you have drawn your design remember to name your exciting new object or product and include some text (20 words minimum) describing what it is and how it works.
If your design includes products or processes that possess or contain new functional or technical aspects you might consider applying for a patent. Please note that it is unwise to make any public disclosure of an invention or to put it into use publicly, for example submitting your design to us, before an application for a patent has been made, as such action may prejudice the obtaining of a valid patent. Further information on applying for a patent is available from the Patents Office website: www.patentsoffice.ie
Step 3:
Get your finished poster, which should contain a picture of your new product, a product name and some descriptive text and post it in to us by the 11th February 2009 to the following address:
Imaginate Competition,
Product Design,
NUI Maynooth,
Maynooth
Co. Kildare
Remember to include your personal Imaginator number, your full name, school year, school address on the back of the poster. Or you can print the email we sent you after you registered with these details on it and glue it to the back of the poster.
Step 4: What happens next?
Once we have received all the entries the judges will be short-listing eight individual designs from each category. These designs will then be displayed on our website between February 20th and 6th March and the public will be invited to vote for their favourite design between those dates. Be sure to look and see if your poster made the shortlist and to vote for your favourite design.
We will then prototype the winning designs using our state of the art 3D printer (rapid prototyping machine) and we will also showcase the winning designs in a virtual animated classroom of the future. All short-listed entries will be invited to our Award Ceremony at NUI Maynooth on Tuesday 31st March when the winners and runners up will be announced and the prizes and prototypes will be presented to the students and the winning schools. RTÉ will stream the awards ceremony on RTÉ.ie and will conduct a webchat following the ceremony.
