The catalyst for student development and engineering innovation.
SIOY QUICK LINKS
Kickstart Your Idea
BYU College of Engineering's Weidman Center for Global Leadership hosts a student competition each year in partnership with the BYU Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology. The annual SIOY competition has kickstarted now-successful companies Owlet, Khione, MyoStorm and more across its 10-year history. Competitors can receive up to $400 in funding to help with prototyping, research, etc. and are in the running for part of the total $50K in prize money.
Ready to get started? Apply for SIOY here .
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SIOY JUDGING RUBRIC & RULES
Student innovations will be judged according the following three categories.
Click here to download the rules.
Click here to download the rules.
Innovation
Prototypes, newness, uniqueness, refinement, and initial creation
Impact
Size of the market affected by the innovation, the magnitude of the problem the innovation addresses, and the extent of transformation the innovation has on existing solutions.
Engineering
CAD and model work, engineering analysis, simulation, testing, validation, and improvements.
SIOY UPCOMING events and deadlines
SIOY events are primarily via Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions. Check back on this page for Zoom links prior to the start of the event.
Ready to compete in SIOY? Apply here .
Ready to compete in SIOY? Apply here .
| Date / Time | Title | Location | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly Q&A / Mentoring | Schedule mentoring by emailing SIOY@BYU.EDU | ||
|
Thursday, October 29
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
|
2 Minute Pitch Workshop | Online | Have a great idea? Learn from a professional trainer how to boil it down to a clear, concise and compelling pitch. Zoom link will be posted day of the event. Click event title for the zoom link. |
|
Friday, December 04
11:59 PM
|
Funding Application Deadline | Apply for up to $400 in funding on the SIOY Application! | |
|
Tuesday, December 08
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
|
Speed Mentoring | Online | Be mentored by BYU College of Engineering alumni and other industry professionals. Deliver your 2-minute idea or product pitch, answer questions, and receive high-quality feedback from the mentors. You may just find a mentor for your team for the duration of SIOY and beyond. |
|
Monday, February 15
11:59 PM
|
SIOY Application Deadline | Last day to apply. | |
|
Wednesday, March 17
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
|
Showcase | EB Event Space and CB step-down lounge | This preliminary judging competition determines the teams that will advance to the Finals competition. Use your refined 2-minute pitch to highlight what makes your product innovative, the engineering work involved, and its impact to judges, students, and visitors. Four Showcase Honorable Mentions and a crowd favorite will receive $500 each. Teams who don't advance to the Finals are eligible to compete in SIOY with the same project a subsequent year. |
| Finalist Mentoring |
TBD; Mandatory -
Prior to the final event, each finalist team will be coached by a private mentor in the development of their short presentation. This presentation coaching will focus on including all aspects of the judging rubric while being engaging and entertaining. |
||
|
Wednesday, March 24
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
|
SIOY Final Competition | Varsity Theater, Wilkinson Student Center (WSC) | The finalist teams will give their presentation to judges in front of a large crowd. Each finalist team will receive $4,000 just for competing in the final event. Finals competition winners will receive total cash awards of 1st place - $12,000, 2nd place - $10,000, 3rd place - $8,000, and Crowd Favorite - $2,000. |
Student Resources
Equipment
Labs
Other
Checkout Equipment
ME Checkout Room
154 CB
Services include: free rental of hardware or equipment like electronics, motors, sensors, and gauges. Also offers workspace rentals, project consultation, and access to certain testing equipment (tensile testers, wind and water tunnels, heat treating ovens, digital microscopes, etc.). Students are trained according to the equipment they want to use and their prior experience.HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon. - Fri. 8am - 5pmFor questions, contact Kevin Cole:
Email: cole@byu.edu
Phone: (801) 422-7446
ECEn Checkout Room/Shop
416 CB
https://ece.byu.edu/shopA one-stop location for all electronic needs: rent or purchase many types of chips, sensors, and equipment. Services include laser cutting, PCB milling, and 3D printing.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon. - Fri.: 8am-5pmCONDITION OF USE:
Students cannot take anything off campus. All students must complete safety training through ytrain.byu.edu (search college and then find ECEn checkout room). For purchasing and loan policies, see: https://ece.byu.edu/shop/policies .
Labs
MFGEN 101 Lab
101 CTB
https://mfgen.byu.edu/labsThe MFGN 101 Lab is mostly a machine lab that offers metal aids, metal mills, and CNCA equipment. It also has a metal shearing machine.
The MFGEN 101 Lab is only open to students who are in or have taken MFGEN 220 or ME EN 382.
HOURS:
Mon. - Fri. 8am - 5pmEmail to reserve . For available times, click here.
MFGEN Weld Lab
140 CTB
https://mfgen.byu.edu/labsThe MFGEN Weld Lab includes stick welding, wire and feed welding, and tig welding.
CONTACT:
Students must go to the lab to schedule or talk with a lab assistant. Hours are posted on the door with contact information as well.CONDITION OF USE:
Students have to have taken a manufacturing welding calss or have proof of past welding experience .
MFGEN 3D Printing Lab
155 CTB
https://mfgen.byu.edu/labsThe MFGEN 3D Printing Lab has several kinds of plastic machines for 3D printing and a metal 3D printer.
CONTACT:
Students must go to the lab to schedule or talk with a lab assistant. Hours are posted on the door with contact information as well.CONDITION OF USE:
Students pay to have lab assistants complete their project.
MFGEN Waterjet
101 CTB
https://mfgen.byu.edu/labsThe MFGEN Waterjet uses GibbsCam to generate code and a modified Fanuc controller to operate the waterjet.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon. - Fri.: 8am - 5pmCONDITION OF USE:
Only lab supervisors are allowed to operate the machinery but any student can request something to be made on the machines.Email to reserve.
140 CTB
The Foundry consists ofmetal welding, casting, brazing, and soldering lab.
CONTACT:
Dr. Miles, in charge of lab:Email: mmiles@byu.edu
Phone: (801) 422-1858
TA: Juston Goldade
Email: justonjgoldade@gmail.com
BYU Cleanroom
487 CB
https://cleanroom.byu.edu/A class 10 cleanroom used for research in solid state, optoelectronics, photonics, nanotechnology, micro-fabrication, MEMS, micro-fluids, etc.
Contact Jim Fraser here for use of the BYU Cleanroom.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon. - Fri.: 7am-5pmIf students are part of the ECE dept. or have a professor who is, they have 24/7 access.
CONDITION OF USE:
Complete training tutorials here. Attend a 3hr in-lab training, it occurs every 2nd and 4th Thursday from 1-4pm. Contact Jim Fraser and let him know you are attending.
Prototyping Lab
EB 117
The Prototyping Lab has 3D printers, waterjet, laser cutting, CNC machines, mills, woodshop, welding equipment, lathes, and hand tools.Click here to book.
OFFICE PHONE:
(801)422-6297HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon. - Fri.: 8am - 5pmCONDITION OF USE:
Any student can access the lab but they must follow strict safety standards:- Students must wear close-toed shoes, long pants, and bring their own safety googles
- Regardless of machine experience, students must always ask for lab assistant help when running a machine
Plastics & Composites Lab
115 SNLB
The plastics and composites lab offers casting, thermoforming, injection molding, extrusion, compression molding, roto-molding, and most composites processing methods. Sells some limited in-house stock materials for those processes. Does NOT offer part design, material procurement, or mold creation. (Prototyping lab can help with molds!)HOURS OF OPERATION:
Varies each semester according to TA schedules, contact lab to get schedule.CONDITION OF USE:
Available to all students but they must learn about the materials and processes before using the lab. TA's can help but students should come well-informed. Students are welcome to contact Dr. George and his TA's to ask about which materials or processes to research for a given product. (Some equipment requires specific training. When applicable, TA's will indicate and aid in the training process.)CONTACT:
Contact Dr. George for any questions:Email: andy_george@byu.edu
Phone: (801) 422-7878
Brigham Young University Resources
BYU Technology Transfer Office
3760 HBLL
http://techtransfer.byu.eduGet answers about the protection of your intellectual property.
CONTACT:
Phone: (801)422-6266
BYU Venture Factory Club
270 CTB
Venture Factory offers the creative space for club members that gives them an extra boost when entering into the Student Innovator of the Year (SIOY) competition.Students must pay a $15 annual fee to become a member and use the many resources such as 3D printers and prototyping material
CONTACT:
Email: venture@byu.eduPhone: (801) 422-6300
Cougar Creations
1010 WSC
Cougar Creations offers black & white and color copying/printing (self-service available), posters & oversized printing, coil binding, vinyl covers, cutting, 2- & 3-hole drilling, laminating, transparency printing, and pick-up/delivery services.HOURS OF OPERATION:
Fall/Winter Hours:
Mon. - Fri.: 8am - 7pmDoors close at 6:45 pm
Sat.: 11am - 4pm
Spring/Summer Hours:
Mon. - Fri.: 8am - 6pmSat.: 11am - 4pm
CONTACT:
Customer Support: (801) 422-1469printandmail-support@byu.edu
Office phone: (801) 422-2786
Color Center: (801) 422-3794
Click here to visit their website
CougarTech
3rd floor of WSC
CougarTech offers operating system installs, virus removal, software installs, hardware diagnostics, hardware upgrades, hardware repairs, data backup, data recovery, data migration. Students must pay for services.HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon. - Fri. 7:45am - 6pm; Sat. 10am - 6pmClosed for Campus Devotionals - Tues. 10:45am - 11:45am
CONTACT:
Phone: 1(800) 253-2578 (ask for CougarTech), byustore.com@byu.edu
Equipment & Tech Services
Level 2 of HBLL
Equipment and Tech Services offers laser cutters, microform, VR, experiential lab, computer accessories, computers and tables, GIS and mapping, instruments, multimedia production equipment, multimedia viewing, printing and copying, and studying tools. See website for entire list of services and products.HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon.: 8am – 9pmTues.: 8am – 9pm
Wed.: 8am – 9pm
Thurs.: 8am – 9pm
Fri.: 8am – 6pm
Sat.: 10am – 6pm
CONTACT:
Email: science_reference@byu.eduPhone: (801) 422-2987 . Can also live chat on website here.
Engineering Building Hardware Proving Grounds
1st floor EB
The Engineering Building Hardware Proving Grounds is a project work area with storage cabinets for engineering students only available by reservation.RESERVATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Engineering students may use their CAEDM password to log-in on the college reservation website. Near the top of the page, click on arrow to the right of "College Resources" Select "Hardware Proving Grounds," click on desired cabinet, and input the information for approval.Click here to make a reservation.
VMWare Academic Program
Software for running virtual machines on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Click here to download software for free.
Click here to download software for free.
Need help with funding?
Check out our funding guidelines below.
SIOY In The News
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Former Shark Tank competitors awarded $50,000 in prizes throughout 2020 Student Innovator of the Year competition
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Known for launching BYU students’ great ideas into real businesses, this year’s Student Innovator of the Year Competition launched its winner’s idea even further--into space, that is.
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BYU Chemical Engineering graduate Kurt Workman went from BYU student entrepreneur to multi-million dollar CEO in just a few years.
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Have questions? Don't hesitate to contact us! We genuinely want to help students get involved with this unique and valuable opportunity to be fostered into the next innovator.