Award and Description

Removing engineering obstacles through creative thinking.
This judged award is given to the team that best reflects the journey the team took as they experienced the engineering design process during the build season. The Engineering Section of the notebook is the key reference for judges to help identify the most deserving team. The team’s Engineering Section should focus on the design and build stage of the team’s robot. Journal entries should include those describing the underlying science and mathematics of the robot design and game strategies, the designs, re-designs, successes, and those interesting moments when things weren’t going as planned. A team is not a candidate for this award if they have not completed the Engineering Section of the Engineering Notebook.

Criteria

Required criteria for the Think Award:
• Team must demonstrate respect and Gracious Professionalism® toward everyone they encounter at an FIRST Tech Challenge event.
• Engineering Notebook must demonstrate that the team has a clear understanding of the engineering design process, with pictures or drawings and details documenting all stages of robot design.
• Notebook must recount the team’s journey, experience and lessons learned throughout the season.
• Engineering Notebook must include entries describing underlying science, mathematics, and game strategies.

Strongly suggested criteria for the Think Award:
• Teams should tab/flag 6 to 8 pages of the Engineering Section to support entries on the summary page.
• Engineering Notebook should be organized and follow the formatting guidelines provided by FIRST and include a Summary Page. Note: Teams should review the Engineering Notebook section of this manual for a complete description and format specifications.