Question 1

Who can participate?

Accepted Answer

Energy mentors encourages broad participation so have the following guidelines:
 • Teams may form ad hoc and need not be officially sponsored by a university, club or organization though it is welcome if teams are so sponsored. 
 • Each team should have a team name and indicate their location, such as their university.
 • Teams can decide on the number of teammates themselves. 
 • Team members may include undergraduate students, graduate students, and persons who are not degree candidates. 
 • Teams may draw on the knowledge and advice from any resources they wish. However, faculty and working professionals should not contribute to directly producing results and deliverables.

Question 2

When is the deadline for registration?

Accepted Answer

The deadline for team registration is March 15, 2026.

Question 3

When is the deadline for submissions?

Accepted Answer

The deadline for team registration is March 15, 2026.

Question 4

How to participate?

Accepted Answer

Please use the “Participate” link to register your team.
Deliverables for submissions are listed on page & of this document:  Power The Community: An International College Design Competition (energymentors.org)(https://www.energymentors.org/_files/ugd/015fad_131f909c13154cc982a0374241d40003.pdf)
A link will be provided in January, 2024, to registered teams so they can submit their project deliverables 
Should you encounter a problem while completing the online registration form, kindly reach out to us at info@energymentors.org.(mailto:info@energymentors.org)

Question 5

Whom do I contact in case I have any questions?

Accepted Answer

Kindly send an email to info@energymentors.org.(mailto:info@energymentors.org)

Question 6

Who is the official project submitter when several team members are involved in the project?

Accepted Answer

This is at the project team’s discretion to nominate a primary contact.

Question 7

The grand prize is us $10,000.  The prize pool for 2025 is again us $31,000.  How will the balance of the prize pool be allocated?

Accepted Answer

Energy Mentors is heartened that our Founding Sponsors have enabled a prize pool up to US$31,000.  We are open to further donations by individuals and other entities to increase the prize pool.
The remaining funds in the prize pool after the allocation to the grand prize will be awarded to Distinguished Designs at the discretion of the judges.

Question 8

Are there additional prizes other than the grand prize.  Additional prizes may incentivize more teams to join.

Accepted Answer

Energy Mentors is open to individuals or companies supplementing the prize pool.  Energy Mentors is providing the $10,000 grand prize.

Note:  If additional sponsors come forward:

• All prizes will be awarded by majority vote of the judges of the regional or finals.
 • 100% of the offered prize money will be awarded to students (no overhead).
 • The donor's name can be on the prize, e.g., "CompanyX Distinguished Award, Power the Community South America Competition"
If you wish to inquire about being a Sponsors please contact:  info@enegymentors.org.(mailto:info@enegymentors.org)

Question 9

Is there a minimum or maximum number of teams for the competition?

Accepted Answer

Energy Mentors will award a prize if as little as one team enters.  If 12 or more teams enter then the competition will be logically broken down into preliminary rounds.  Such may be organized by regions, countries, or continents, depending on the geographic distribution of entries.   If preliminaries, then a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 12 entries will be promoted into the finals.  For example, if one continent or country has 6 or more entries then that continent or country may be a preliminary round with at least one entry promoted to the final round.

Question 10

Can a university or college incorporate the design challenge into college course credit, e.g., senior design project.

Accepted Answer

Yes.

Question 11

Can a team sell its design and or participate in the property development.

Accepted Answer

Sure. Why Not?

Question 12

Why, “Designs must be geolocated to an actual parcel of land that can be developed into a community…”?

Accepted Answer

Design to real world conditions is a great learning mechanism as it requires embracing and overcoming non-ideal conditions. It challenges to take your project to applicability in the real world.

Question 13

What are examples of “Components of the conceptual design that must be available for purchase from worldwide sourcing as of the cutoff date for the competition submission.”  What are examples that do not meet this test?  What if components are available for purchase though not in huge quantities.

Accepted Answer

Some examples:
 • Components available for purchase today:  Photovoltaic (PV) solar roofing tiles, cryogenic iso containers filled with LNG delivered by truck.
 • Components not available for purchase today:  Community deployable small modular nuclear reactors.
 • Note:  If components are available for purchase today regardless of volume it can be used in the submitted designs.  It can be assumed production can be ramped over time if demand increases.

Question 14

Benchmarking must be made in comparison with nearby populations.  What may be considered nearby?

Accepted Answer

“Nearby” will be a judgment call each team will have to decide.  Teams may consider nearby populations using a thought process like but not limited to:
 • The population to the nearest city of greater than 100,000 persons.
 • Populations in the surrounding 500 km (300 miles) if the design is for a less populous region.

Question 15

Please explain why this design competition does not have a formulistic judging rubric.  How do we know what the judges might be looking for?

Accepted Answer

This competition seeks design masterpieces.  Lots of them.  Could a formulistic 
judging rubric unleash each team to be as innovative as they might be?  Might a rubric bake-in bias to existing paradigms.  Could there be an incentive to “gamify” their design submission for maximum score rather than generate the best solutions for their community?   
Consider these thought exercises:
 • How would the iPhone fare in a 2006 mobile phone competition if the judging rubric included more points for a great keyboard design?
 • Should people be penalized for not following a formula?  Michelangelo was given a specification for what should be painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  He did not comply with the paradigm he was given.
 • (Ignoring time and place …) Can you come up with a judging rubric that could “score” the designs of both the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower where decision makers would move forward to build both?
It is intended that the five judges be of diverse professional capabilities and accomplishments.  It is hoped that collectively they will appreciate great designs when they encounter them.

Question 16

Can a team patent element of its design?

Accepted Answer

It is suggested that teams consult appropriate intellectual property (IP) legal counsel before submission to ensure adequate protection.  Many universities and colleges have IP capabilities and protocols.

Question 17

Should the community include places of employment?

Accepted Answer

Maybe.  Maybe not.  A community certainly needs an economic underpinning to be a great place to live.  Such could be provided in the community design.  Or it could be located nearby.  In the latter case a design element could focus on how best residents can flow to and from places of employment and business that are nearby.
Nearby employment and economic activity may drive the location for a community.  Those economic centers of activity can be geolocated versus the community on an area map.

Question 18

Should the community include basic shopping (e.g. grocery and drug stores), other retail, restaurants, places of worship, community centers, etc.?  I see that they are to be considered but are they internal or external to the community?

Accepted Answer

A community certainly needs access to shopping (e.g. grocery and drug stores), other retail, restaurants, places of worship, community centers, etc., to be a great place to live.  Such could be provided in the community, or depending on how the proposed community is sited on the map, it could be located nearby so the design element of focus could be residents flow to and from accessing such services.

Question 19

Is there any assumption as to the community’s location relative to other population centers, and of what size?

Accepted Answer

This is for each team to decide.  It should be driven by their view of local market demand by their target customers.  This enables teams to leveraging their local knowledge and to consider solutions that best meet local needs.

Question 20

Can the pitch video be in a language other than English?

Accepted Answer

As a practical matter the pitch video has to be accessible to the judges so it should be in English or have English subtitles.

Question 21

Is the team allowed to change its members? If so, when and when not?

Accepted Answer

A team may change its members up to the time of submission of its design.  Awards if won will be allocated equally by those team members documented in the design submission.

Question 22

Who will administer the competition?  And who will judge it?

Accepted Answer

Energy Mentors will act as the Organizing Committee (OC) to administer the “Power the Community” competition.  The Organizing Committee may be supplemented with volunteers.  The Organizing Committee will recruit and appoint judges by the time of the design submissions.  No Board Member or employee of Energy Mentors or volunteers on the Organizing Committee shall be a judge.

Question 23

To whom should the team make queries in case of doubts and questions?

Accepted Answer

Queries can be sent to info@energymentors.org.(mailto:info@energymentors.org)  Replies to queries will be posted on the competition website, for example here in the FAQs, so all teams may benefit from the reply.

Question 24

What kind of support will be provided by the Organizing Committee?

Accepted Answer

The Organizing Committee and Energy Mentors will post Knowledge Resources and is considering possible web casts and or video postings so they are accessible to all team.  The competing team should turn to local professors and professionals for team mentoring and advising.

Question 25

What is the responsibility of the competitors?

Accepted Answer

The competing teams are responsible for submission of their deliverables by the closing date of submissions, in alignment with the competition requirements, as conducted in a professional manner.

Question 26

Is there an appeal process to the competition results?

Accepted Answer

The results from the judges are final.   There is no appeal process.

Question 27

What can eliminate the team from the competition?  Is there an appeal process?

Accepted Answer

The teams’ designs including any documentation submitted to the web site shall speak for itself.  The teams’ designs are more similar to commercial rather than academic deliverables. As the submissions are designs they may tend in some way to be derivative of and synthesis of prior knowledge and techniques.  The competition specifically calls for designs to include capabilities available in the marketplace.  It is always a nice gesture to give some recognition and thanks to those who either directly or indirectly helped and or inspired.

Question 28

How are awards decided?

Accepted Answer

Results as determined by majority vote of the judges.

Question 29

Is there a disqualification process?

Accepted Answer

Hopefully no team displays grossly uncivil public behavior during the competition.  The Organizing Committee at its sole discretion reserves the right to eliminate any team for grossly uncivil public behavior during the course of the competition.

Question 30

Why don’t we post full project documents of past winners?

Accepted Answer

We only post winning videos. We do not share full documents to encourage innovation and ensure each team goes through their own learning journey.

Open Office Hours: Expert Guidance from Start to Submit