Instructables Contest – Win Equipment for Makerspaces in Schools

Makerspaces in schools and communities are activity areas equipped with tools and equipment that are shared by students, hobbyist, start-ups, etc. who want to explore, invent, collaborate and create projects related to subjects like technology, IoT, woodwork, Art & Craft, robotics, coding, electronics, cooking and sewing.

Creating a makerspace (traditionally called hackerspace) can sometimes turn out to be expensive, and besides school, state and community contributions, additional resources are often welcome to make it better equipped.

Here is a chance to win useful tools and equipment by makerspace teams. There is a platform called Instructables that is the biggest DIY community on the web, where creators post their DIY creations. They are hosting their third Makerspace Contest, which brings creators and communities together to create and share innovations. This year, the contest is open for entry between Jun 1, 2017 and Aug 31, 2017 (11:59pm PT).

Teams from all over the world can enter the contest to win exciting equipment for their makerspaces in schools or outside. You have to publish your instructables/projects on the website. Your entry can be voted by the instructables community to be a winner?team or individual, and you can win some of the 33 prizes comprised of makerspace equipment and tools.

Participants can publish anything from a few-step smoothie recipe to a 50-step drone build. Some of the entries already submitted to the contest include Acid-etched glass, Radish Curry recipe, Simple Arduino Pan & Tilt System, Painting With Coffee, Laser Cut Kitchen Towel Holder and Interfacing Light Dependent Resistor With Arduino Uno?(affiliate link).

Contest prizes for makerspaces in schools and outside

Besides Instructables? prize packs, the following makerspace equipment producers are offering products worth $50,000 for the winner teams:

• Epilog (Epilog Laser Engraving, Cutting and Marking Systems)
• Ultimaker (3D printer)(affiliate link)
• Dremel (Tool kits)
• Woodcraft.com
• Digkey (electronics)

There are Grand prize, First, Second and Third Prizes for teams.

Individual creators from various teams can also win prizes? Best individual Project, Best use of Fusion 360, and Best use of Sculpting in Fusion 360 and Best use of CAM in Fusion 360. Fusion 360 is a cloud-based 3D CAD platform that is free for students, educators, start ups, and hobbyist.

How does the contest work

1. Register:

The captain of your team can register 5 to 20 members for the Makerspace Contest, and receive a unique code for the team. The team members must be located within 150 miles of each other. The unique team code is to be used as a keyword for every project that the team?s members post.

2. Write an instructable

Projects from any subject can be entered. Create something, and document it (take pictures or record videos). Create an intractable on the website, write step-by-step description of how you created it, and with each step, post pictures or videos.
Note: The instructable you are planning to enter the contest should fit the guidelines about team-member registration and writing a step-by-step instructable with pictures, and it must be published and entered before the deadline.

When you have created an instructable you are happy with, publish it on the website.

3. Enter your instructable for the contest

Important: After publishing an instructable, team members should immediately submit them to the contest, as you cannot hold onto an entry to submit later. You can make more than one submission.

You can select the checkboxes of the open contests you want to submit your instructable to (in this case, the Makerspace Contest). If your entry is eligible for a contest, you get the option ?Enter this Contest?.

4. Accepting

Instructables? staff accepts the submitted entries within one working day (Mon-Fri). Make sure that you submit your entries within the stipulated time; however, acceptance of the entry may come after the deadline.

5. Leaderboard

You can check your team?s entries and their standing among other entries on your leaderboard, which is updated every week.

6. Vote

All instructable members are eligible to vote for an entry till three days after the contest closes.

7. Judging of the winner

After the votes have been cast, the finalists are rated by a panel made up of a few respected community members and Instructables? staff.

8. Winner announcement

The winners are announced on the contest?s page, and are sent notifications, too.

Go ahead and create something you like, are good at, or want to try your hand at for the first time. Document your project and post and submit it on instructables with your team?s unicode. Cast your vote, and share your creation with other community members to check out and vote for.

Once you publish with instructables.com, you become a part of a wonderful DIY community, where people share their ideas, and get to explore projects and innovations shared by diverse people. It?s not just about the Makerspace Contest there; it?s about the wonderful experience of being part of a resourceful and creative space that?s absolutely inspiring.

Managers and leaders of makerspaces in schools and communities can also encourage their students to explore this platform to get inspiration for their next makerspace projects. So, whether it?s about winning some equipment for your team, sharing your creations, or just finding ideas, Instructables is worth checking out.