IEEE Mobile App Contest Launches Worldwide

The IEEEmadC competition is open to all IEEE student members to develop apps that benefit humanity

 18 February 2015

Two years ago, IEEE Member Josip Balen launched IEEEmadC (Mobile Applications Development Contest), a 19-week competition to encourage student members in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to develop mobile apps. What distinguishes IEEEmadC from other competitions is its focus on advancing IEEE and the organization’s mission. Having this targeted goal yielded great results in the past, and we look forward to having even more submissions this year because the competition is now open to all student members.

The deadline for concept submissions is 1 March. To participate, here’s what you need to know.

THE RULES

Proposed mobile apps should be focused on IEEE’s mission to advance technology for humanity (or to even improve IEEE itself, such as an app to better navigate resources for students). IEEE student members can compete as individuals or in teams of up to three. Each team can submit up to three different applications. To learn more, read the rules page.

The competition is divided into two phases. First is the idea stage in which participants submit the concept for their apps. That deadline is 1 March.

The second phase is the development stage, which requires participants to submit their working application by 1 April. Participants can use free and open-source resources. Bonus points will be rewarded for those who publish their app’s source code online on GitHub or a similar platform.

The submission of the working application must include screenshots of the application, a short video highlighting its features, a brief technical description, and a link to the app if it’s published online.

SCORING AND PRIZES

Apps will be scored by a panel of judges based on four criteria: the user interface such as colors, fonts, and icons; user experience, including functionality, efficiency, and logical structure; usefulness, or how much relevant information is accessible to users; and availability, which is the potential number of users.

The top prize is US $4,000, which will be given based on the best overall score from the criteria above. A $2,000 prize will be awarded for best design, $1,000 for most popular app, and one student member of the IEEE Computer Society—a sponsor of the competition—will receive an Apple iPad.

PAST SUBMISSIONS

The first iteration of IEEEmadC received 28 submissions. The winning team, from Polytechnic University of Milan, developed mobile access to the MyIEEE portal, a personalized portal that consolidates members’ IEEE benefits and subscriptions. Other submissions included an app that provided images and animations to help explain technical ideas, and another helped students keep track of their class schedules and set reminders for what they need for their next class, such as upcoming assignments and books.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

If you’re not a student member, you can still get involved by mentoring a team, organizing a lecture on how to participate or build apps, or motivate your students to compete. For student members who haven’t worked on apps before, there are a ton of free materials online. Follow our Facebook page for resources.

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Photo: Luka Horvat

Luka Horvat is an IEEE member and the chair of this year’s IEEEmadC competition. He is also the director of technology of the Croatian startup, Farmeron, which helps dairy farmers improve their businesses using Web-based data and