Entries
The benefits to you:
- Learn how to write a technical paper
- Have your project promoted in an Institution publication
- Be in with a chance of winning a category award
- Join the Institution of Electronics and help guide its future development
Entry requirements:
- Application is free to students holding student membership of the Institution of Electronics – or
- Applicants of Arkwright-affiliated schools, but applicants do not have to be Arkwright Engineering Scholars
- Applicants must complete a project where electronics are integral to its successful function
- Applicants must report on their project using a simplified ‘Technical Paper’ format and a two-minute video
Entry categories:
- Any student -Year 11 (England & Wales), S4 (Scotland), Year 12 (Northern Ireland)
- Any student -Year 12 & 13 (England & Wales), S5 & S6 (Scotland), Year 13 & 14 (Northern Ireland)
- Arkwright Scholars
- Arkwright alumni in 1st / 2nd year of an undergraduate degree
- Any student in the 1st or 2nd year of an undergraduate degree
National Electronics Competition
An exclusive competition for students of Arkwright affiliated Schools.
The Institution of Electronics was founded in 1930.
After a period of relative inactivity the Institution is partnering the Arkwright Scholarships Trust to rejuvenate its membership with the ’brightest and best’ future leaders of UK electronics and to provide benefit to the UK’s electronics education and industry.
This competition will give the Institution the chance to champion the cause of young people pursuing electronics projects within the curriculum, extra-curricular and at home.
Applicants become student members of the Institution and will be invited to join the task-force that will plan the next phase of the Institution’s development as an incubator for future leaders of the electronics industry.
What to do next?
- Read the application guidelines on the next page
- Read the example technical paper
- Complete your electronics project
- Complete your technical paper and video
- Post the video to YouTube
- Submit your application to the Institution by email
- Ensure you hold current membership of the Institution of Electronics
Guidelines for application
Your project:
- The project you submit can be anything, provided that electronics are integral to its successful function. We expect most applicants to use a project they have already completed or are working on at university, school (curricular or extra-curricular) or at home. There is no need to create a new project specifically for this competition. All projects must be complete and functioning when the technical paper and video are submitted
- An applicant can submit multiple projects – each one needs its own technical paper and video, but they must be submitted en masse in one email to the email address below.
- Applicants must report on their project using a simplified ‘Technical Paper’ format and a two-minute video
The ‘technical paper’:
- When Engineers, Scientists and Technologists submit their work to be published in a peer-reviewed journal or at an international conference, they must write a ‘technical paper’ to a rigid formatting specification. To give applicants an early experience of this, we require applications in such a format. An example technical paper is provided here. Our example is a paper ‘converted’ from the D&T project portfolio prepared by Arkwright Scholar Vaughan Jubb-Buckley as part of his school-based GCSE project.
- Submit your paper in exactly this format i.e. the same text font, size, style and colour, and the same main Headings (Sections 1 to 8). You can change subheadings and of course you must delete the example text and images and add your own (you do not need to add the same number of images as in the example. Use however many images suits your project the best). Use the same bracketed number format where you want to refer to a reference document (e.g. the example paper contains two references quoted in sections 2 and 3.2). Don’t forget to change the footer. Maximum of 10 pages total please (yes we know the example paper is 12 pages long!)
The video:
- Produce a video (maximum two minutes) and post it to YouTube to: showcase, demonstrate and explain the main functional features and technical aspects of your project.
- Apart from its short duration we provide no other guidelines for the video—be creative!
The prizes:
- Each submitted project will be assessed by a panel of experts on its form, function and innovation • All technical papers adjudged to be of an adequate quality will be published in an Institution of Electronics publication (great for your CV)
- All applicants (and their teachers if the applicant is still at school) will be invited to take part in the task force that will plan the next stage of the
Institution’s development - The winner of each category (see the categories on the previous page) will receive £200 plus a certificate
Competition deadlines:
- Entries will be accepted from 1st July each year. The closing date is 31st August each year -late entries will not be accepted
- Results will be available mid October each year; Winners will receive their awards in November by arrangement with their school
- Institution publication, containing submitted papers of adequate quality, will be published the following year in the quarterly Electron Magazine
How to apply:
- Send an email to the membership officer admin@institutionofelectronics.ac.uk with the subject “National Electronics Competition”
- In the email state: your full name; your school (prior school if you are now at university), your university if you are at university; the category number (1-5) that you are entering
- In your email include: your technical paper(s) as an attachment to the standard specification, in an editable format (e.g. Microsoft Word); and a link to your YouTube video(s)
- Please note: Entry for existing student members is free, if you are not currently a member please visit https://membermojo.co.uk/ie
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