Young Innovators
STEM Contest
In search of innovative ideas: 6th-8th grade problem-solvers
Minnesota Rubber and Plastics is looking for creative minds to help solve challenges related to issues that are important to all of us — including environmental sustainability, water quality, transportation efficiency and healthcare. We invite middle school students within 150 miles of our Plymouth, MN headquarters, either individually or in groups of up to 8 individuals, to submit innovative ideas for new products or new processes that address these challenges. Ideas can be big or small. They can involve the development of new technologies or simply smarter ways to do the things we already do today.
The student or team submitting the winning idea will be invited to the Minnesota Rubber & Plastics Innovation Center in Plymouth, MN to use the company’s new state-of-the-art design and prototyping tools. Student(s) will experience being an “engineer for a day” and meet with top materials science, design and production engineers. Minnesota Rubber & Plastics will also donate $2,500 of STEM supplies, selected by the winning student or team for their school.
Submission Dates:
The submission period for this contest has ended.
How to Submit:
Each submission must answer the following questions in a 500-1,000 word essay:
- What problem are you trying to solve related to:
- Environmental sustainability
- Water quality
- Transportation efficiency
- Quality of healthcare
- What is your idea?
- How are you proposing to address this challenge?
- What measurable impact(s) do you think your innovation could have?
- What would you want to learn if you could be an engineer for a day?
In addition, submissions must include a hand-drawn sketch or computer-generated image of the innovation and an explanation of how it could work.
Rules:
One winner will be selected by a committee of judges from the Minnesota Rubber & Plastics leadership team. The winner will be selected based on the following criteria:
- Creativity of the innovation
- Practicality of the innovation
- Potential positive impact of the innovation
- Quality of the Submission
See the full Terms & Conditions here.
Questions? Contact innovationcentercontest@mnrubber.com