Competition Terms

These are the terms for the Concept to Manufacture in 3 Weeks challenge, run by AI-NC (Melbourne, Australia). By entering, you agree to them.

1. Who can enter You must be currently enrolled as an engineering student at an Australian university at the time of entry. You can enter solo or in a team of up to three. All team members must meet the eligibility rule. Existing Manufact users from prior university coursework qualify with their current account.

2. How entries work Sign up, use Manufact to iterate your CAD design. Eligibility for the Most-iterated, Best assembly, and Random draw prizes is determined automatically from your activity in Manufact during the challenge window. The Showcase prize requires a short writeup or video; we email instructions for that during the challenge. A single entrant or team can be eligible for more than one prize, and the same part can count toward multiple categories where it qualifies. Submissions close approximately three weeks after the challenge opens; the exact close date is emailed to each entrant on activation. Winners are announced within a week of close.

3. Prize categories

• Showcase. A$1,000 plus AI-NC manufactures the winning design (see clause 4).
• Most-iterated design. A$300, judged automatically from product analytics.
• Best assembly. A$300.
• Random draw. A$200 voucher, drawn from anyone who uses Manufact on a real (non-toy) part during the challenge window. Eligibility reviewed by AI-NC engineering team before draw.

4. Manufacturing the Showcase winner AI-NC will pay to manufacture the winning Showcase design, but we reserve the right to:

• cap the manufacturing budget at A$1,500;
• refuse designs that are unsafe, impractical, oversized, or beyond reasonable scope (for example structural elements, vehicle parts, or anything requiring certification);
• choose the manufacturing method and supplier (this may be a third party such as PCBWay or JLCPCB, or a local jobshop);
• substitute the manufacturing prize for a A$1,000 voucher at the entrant's preferred jobshop if no suitable manufacturing path is available.

5. Intellectual property You keep ownership of your CAD designs and submission materials. By entering, you grant AI-NC a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to display, reproduce, and discuss your entry on AI-NC channels (website, social media, blog, decks) for marketing and promotional purposes. AI-NC will not sell, sublicense, or commercially exploit your design.

6. Prize payment Prizes are paid by Australian bank transfer. For team entries, the prize is paid to one nominated team member, and splitting it between team members is your responsibility. Recipients are responsible for any tax implications. Prizes not claimed within 60 days of being announced are forfeit.

7. Judging Showcase entries are judged by the AI-NC team against a rubric covering iteration quality, storytelling, real-world plausibility, and completeness. Most-iterated is judged automatically from Manufact analytics. Random draw entries are reviewed by the AI-NC engineering team to confirm the real-part criterion, then drawn at random. AI-NC's decisions are final.

8. Disqualification We may disqualify entries that misrepresent authorship, plagiarise other people's designs, breach a university's academic integrity rules, or contain content that is unlawful, offensive, or infringes someone else's rights. If a winner is disqualified, we may award the prize to the next-best entry.

9. Changes and cancellation AI-NC may amend these terms, extend deadlines, or cancel the competition if circumstances require (for example, low participation, technical issues, or events outside our control). We will give notice by email to entrants and on news.ai-nc.com.

10. Governing law These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. Any dispute will be handled in the courts of Victoria.

11. Notification All entrants are notified by email regardless of outcome at the end of the judging week. Winners are also published on news.ai-nc.com/challenge.

Contact: keaton@ai-nc.com