Judge Guide
Select Our Annual Winners
Help us select the year’s top inventions and provide students feedback that will encourage them to take their ideas to the next level!
-Kathleen Brown, buddhi
I was blown away by the intelligence, curiosity and creativity of children who spent months on their projects to create everything from robot dogs to sauce savers and everything in between. Feel like a superhero to these bright young inventors!
JUMP TO:
THE ROLE
Eligible judges must have either STEM, innovation, entrepreneurial or education related experience and be over the age of 18.
You will:
- Evaluate student inventions using current judging rubric
- Provide objective feedback for student inventions
- Engage student inventors with questions or comments about their inventions
Take a look at the time commitment below:
Registration (~5 min)
A registration link for Zfairs, our judging platform, will be provided to you generally at the end of February.
Asynchronous Judge Webinar (~30 min)
A judge training will be offered to provide all the information you need to assess student inventions.
Judging (1-3 hours)
Asynchronous online judges can expect to spend 1-3 hours over the course of a week reviewing student invention materials and submitting feedback & scores.
Live online judges will spend 3 hours meeting with students in real time to learn about their inventions, asking questions, and submitting feedback & scores.
Judging Timeline
Sign Up & Register
Every year, usually around January, the Chicago Student Invention Convention seeks volunteers to serve as Invention Judges.
Complete by the end of February
Review Training Webinar
Learn about our program, how to score using the competition rubric, and best practices for delivering feedback.
Complete before the judging window opens
Review project materials (Asynchronous Online Judges Only)
You will be assigned 5-8 student invention projects to review.
Project materials include:
- A 4-6 minute pitch video
- An invention logbook detailing each step of the process
- Photos of the prototype
You will have a week to review these materials asynchronously and to prepare a few follow-up questions for students.
Complete during the week long judging window
Meet with student inventors (Online Judges Only)
Students will present to you in real-time and you will have an opportunity for you to ask clarifying questions and to share some early feedback and encouragement with students.
This takes place in a three-hour virtual event on a Saturday morning in March
Score and submit
Submit your final scores as well as nominations for projects that may fit one of our specialty awards!
Finish all scores within 24 hours of the virtual event
