Cornell Cup USA

The application stage typically takes place in the months the previous year of the competition. Teams must complete an application which includes a team interest form, a competition integrity form, and a 7 application questions form by the designated deadline. Applications are reviewed by the Cornell review team which in turn selects up to 35 of the top application submissions.[5] The selected team can then participate in the final competition.

Finalists are given an array of support as they work through their plan.[2]

• Hardware - Each team is given the latest Intel Atom board. The board is equipped with an Intel Atom, an FPGA, and a large array of I/O. Additionally various other equipment is provided from secondary sponsors.
• Funding - Each team is provided $1,500 in financial support to aid their project and team.
• Access - Each team is given direct access to Intel technical leaders other sponsoring companies' experts who are designing and developing embedded hardware and application commercially.
• Training - Cornell Systems Engineering offers an online guide system to hone students professional design skills
• Invitation - Teams are invited to the public expo

The top application submissions that have been chosen have roughly half a year to make their project come to fruition. The teams are responsible for following through their application. A final report is required to be submitted by the deadline. The competition holds an all-day public expo during May where judges hear a six-minutes pitch, asking questions, examining posters, and checking out the demos. Each team undergoes a more in-depth, private review process.[6][7]

During the final day of the expo, the winners are announced and awarded first, second, or third place in various categories. Various other sponsors may potentially offer special awards to various teams in addition to these awards. The expo takes place at Walt Disney World in May.

The top 3 highest total score winners will be awarded first, second, and third Cornell Cup USA, presented by Intel Grand Prizes respectively. Winners are typically announced during the final day of the expo.

The grand prize winner will receive $10,000. Second place team will receive $5,000. Third place team will receive $2,500.[8]

During the Cornell Cup Expo, all competition participants will be able to have a single vote for their choice of team. These votes will determine the winning team. People's Choice Award will go to the team receiving the most participants' votes but did not win one of the 3 grand prizes.

Teams that have successfully submitted an application, but were not chosen as finalists are allowed to submit a final report. Their final report must follow the same rules and guidelines as the finalists. The Wild Card Award is given to a team who were deemed strong enough by the review judges.

Each of the finalist team must create an On-line Chronicle blog using the template provided by the competition. They must also generate social network and media buzz by publishing updates on various channels. The Media Award are judged by members of the media, which is based on team blogs, online channels, and their presentation at the expo.

The top two teams will receive $1,000 awards.[3]

In 2014 the competition added a new award, the Entrepreneurship Award, where teams can create a business plan around their Cornell Cup project which could be pitched to venture capitalists. The award was created due to a great interest by past teams that wanted to turn their creative competition inventions into entrepreneurial opportunities after the Cup's final expo.

The winner of the Entrepreneurship Award will receive $2,500.[9]

• Cornell Cup Grand Prizes[10]

1. First Place - IVS, Portland State University
2. Second Place - HAWK, University of Pennsylvania
3. Third Place - Team Squirtle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• People's Choice
  • Kinecthesia, University of Pennsylvania
• Wild Card
  • Blind Assist, Howard University
• Honorable Mention
  • Interactive Multi-Control Wheelchair, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Team DART, Seattle Pacific University
  • Hot Dawgs, Southern Illinois, University at Carbondale
  • Sentinel, University of California, San Diego
  • Solar Drone, University of California, Berkeley
  • SWARM, Columbia University
  • Audio(G)Fusion, University of Houston
  • GT Accessors, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • The Incredible HUD, Purdue University
  • JouleCycle Team, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

• Cornell Cup Grand Prizes[11][12]

1. First Place - Titan, University of Pennsylvania[13][14]
2. Second Place - Cyber Physical Systems, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
3. Third Place - Intracell, University of Colorado Denver

• People's Choice
  • Team BioBot, University of Massachusetts, Lowell & Padmasri Dr. B.V. Raju Institute of Technology (BVRIT)[15]
• Media Award
  • Intracell, University of Colorado Denver
• Honorable Mention
  • MetroSwift, Oregon State University
  • Team Sigma, Howard University
  • Assistive Robotic Manipulator (ARM), Columbia University
  • ProtoDrive, University of Pennsylvania
  • URead Braille, University of Rochester
  • PandaCare, University of Pittsburgh
  • Team Lions, Columbia University
  • Salty Dawgs, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
  • Team Ignitus, University of Houston
  • Ouroboros, Columbia University

The 3rd annual award was held on May, 2014.

• Cornell Cup Grand Prizes

1. First Place - Smart Robotic Prosthetic Hand, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
2. Second Place - SAFE, Portland State University
3. Third Place - Submersibles, Penn State

• Data Analytics Award
  • Submersibles, Penn State
• People's Choice
  • SmartCollar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign[16]
• Media Award
  • Synergetech, University of Houston
• Entrepreneurship Award
  • VDAP, University of Akron
• Honorable Mention
  • Mr. Meds, University of Massachusetts-Lowell
  • Motion Safe Systems, Oregon State University
  • Flux Excursion, Oregon State University
  • NAO Navigators, Arizona State University
  • VDAP, University of Akron
  • SEMG, University of Houston
  • FANGS, University of California, San Diego
  • Team Envision, Virginia Tech

The Cornell Cup 2015 winners will be announced on May 3, 2015.