Santa Clara University School of Engineering

Santa Clara University School of Engineering

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program

The Centennial SWAG Maker Challenge
Design + Making + Marketing + Sales

$2,000 Grand Prize

As the SCU School of Engineering nears the end of its Centennial Year, we have a final chance
to promote the School through a celebration of 100 years of engineering accomplishments. We
also have a chance to look to the future given the promising work being accomplished in areas
such as sustainability and energy, nanotechnology, bio-engineering, robotics and automation,
innovation and entrepreneurship, and computer security. Like many organizations, the School is
doing this, in part, by giving away SWAG (Stuff We All Get), which typically consists of small
objects or trinkets that are provided to attendees of events. The Centennial SWAG Maker
Challenge invites you to create a memento that promotes engineering at Santa Clara University
by reinforcing the School’s brand, commemorating School accomplishments/events, promoting
new initiatives, or adopting similar strategies.

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to design a compelling SWAG product. You will
then make multiple copies of your SWAG item by leveraging the capabilities of the School’s
new Maker Lab. Although SWAG is typically given away for free, to obtain a real-world
assessment of the value of your item, you will also market and sell your SWAG item.
Performance of teams will be based on the promotional strength and aesthetics of the design, the
fabricated items’ quality and ability to exploit the capabilities of the Maker Lab, the appeal of the
marketing campaign, and the ability to create measured commercial value through sales.

Details of the SWAG Design Guidelines and Judging Criteria:
• The general concept of SWAG is that it consists of a tangible item that can be held, worn,

used and/or displayed by an individual; any deviation from this concept must be approved by
the competition manager (and may not be approved). A set of multiple items may be
permitted if the items appropriately complement each other. Items should be easily stored
and distributed, as defined at the discretion of the competition manager. (Competition
manager: Dr. Christopher Kitts, ckitts @ scu.edu).
• SWAG should promote the School and the Centennial in appropriate ways. Consider the use
of colors, words, and logos in order to market and celebrate the event. Consider selecting the
item such that it reinforces themes in engineering, particularly themes that may somehow
distinguish the School of Engineering and/or an SCU engineer. Think carefully about your
design to ensure that it won’t be misinterpreted in embarrassing or insulting ways. SWAG

item concepts must meet appropriateness criteria of the School; teams are encouraged to
consult School staff early in the design process to ensure that their concept is acceptable
(School point of contact: Heidi Williams, hwilliams @ scu.edu).

• You will need to state and justify the incremental cost of producing your SWAG item, and
this cost must be less than $5. This cost shall be computed by assuming a production run of
1,000 units (even though you will only produce 11 items); this includes the cost of materials
(such as rapid prototyping plastics, packaging materials, etc.), purchased sub-components,
manual fabrication/assembly/production labor (costed at a local minimum wage rate), and
machine time for any automated tools used for production. Other cost categories relevant to
your design should be identified and discussed with the competition manager as early as
possible in the design process (since the appropriate cost might prevent cost-effective use of
the strategy you want to use).

• You will produce/create/make 11 units of your SWAG item (even though your cost estimate
assumes a production run of 1,000 units). All production/fabrication tasks must be capable
of being executed using Maker Lab resources, and teams will be expected to make use of the
Lab for most of these activities. SWAG fabrication requirements must meet appropriateness
criteria for the Maker Lab; teams are encouraged to consult Maker Lab staff early in the
design process to ensure that their concept is acceptable (Maker Lab point of contact: Anne
Mahacek, amahacek @ scu.edu).

• You will develop and execute an appropriate marketing strategy to promote and sell 10 of
your items over a 2-3 day period, and you will conduct a sales campaign by putting your
items on sale in the campus book store. This task will be coordinated with the manager of
the campus book store, who will guide you in setting an appropriate price, approving your in-
store display concept, etc. Note that SWAG concepts, pricing, and product quality MUST
meet book store criteria - products that fail to do so will not be sold; teams are advised to
consult with book store personnel early in the design phase to meet these criteria (book store
point of contact: Deborah Kendall, [email protected]). You will be partially evaluated by the
profit you generate from the sale of 10 of your items; revenue generated will not be provided
to the team (most likely, we will use these funds within the Maker Lab to subsidize the costs
associated with conducting the contest).

A minimum of five teams must enter by the end of the Phase 1 deadline, or the competition will
be cancelled; registered teams will be notified when the five team minimum requirement has
been met. The competition will be conducted in two phases:

1. An unlimited number of teams may participate in Phase 1, in which you will propose
your design and provide plans relevant to your manufacturing processes, marketing
strategy, and cost/price points. The judging panel will select the top 3 teams (or more at
the discretion of the panel) to proceed to Phase 2.

2. In Phase 2, the selected teams will produce, market and sell their SWAG product. Teams
will produce 11 SWAG items; 10 of these will be sold, and 1 will be provided to the
judging panel. Students requiring Maker Lab use training will be provided such training.
Maker Lab personnel will also be available to assist in the use of Lab resources; this may
include suggestions relating to the design for manufacturability elements of the design.
Each team, if desired, will also be assigned an external mentor with expertise in design,
manufacturing and/or marketing; the mentor will be available to meet and advise the
team on a limited basis.

Teams will be judged by a panel of faculty, staff and industry advisors. The winning team will
be announced during an event in November and will win the $2,000 grand prize.

Deliverables and Deadlines
• Sep 24: Teams may begin to register for the competition
• Oct 15: Deadline for registering teams (teams may begin work on their concepts – to include

being able to consult with School, Maker Lab, and Bookstore personnel – as soon as they
register their team).
• Oct 22: Submission of Phase I entry proposal. The proposal must include: 1) team name and
names/years/departments of students, name of mentor (if applicable), 2) an artistic
sketch/rendering of the SWAG item, 3) a paragraph or two describing the rationale for the
item, how it promotes/honors the Centennial, etc., 4) a brief fabrication plan (2 pages max)
that includes a bill of materials, an outline of fabrication and assembly steps, an initial
material/cost estimate, a statement describing how the use of Maker Lab equipment will be
appropriately leveraged, etc., 5) a brief initial marketing/sales plan (2 pages max) that states
and justifies the price point and pricing rationale, outlines the anticipated packaging/staging
strategy (to include an artistic sketch of the packaging and/or in-store display to be
used/produced), and discusses ideas for any additional marketing activities that will be
conducted (word of mouth, advertising, signage, etc.).
• Oct 24: Notification of teams selected to proceed with Phase II
• Nov 12 at noon: Delivery of SWAG items and other Phase II materials. Deliverables will
include the SWAG items, packaged (if at all) ready for sale, and with the in-store
holder/display (if necessary). In addition, a final presentation will be submitted (6 slides
max; submit in both .ppt and .pdf formats) and will cover i) team name and name of students
and mentor (if applicable), ii) a close-up photo of your SWAG item and a review of how the
item commemorates the Centennial, iii) a slide reviewing fabrication and assembly using
Maker Lab tools and space, iv) the final cost breakdown for your item, v) the final pricing
strategy and price point for selling your item, vi) a photo that showcases how your SWAG
item was packaged and staged for sale in the bookstore.
• Nov 15 or so (TBD): Evening reception announcing competition results

Contest Rules and Procedures:
• Teams of students may enter, with 3-8 students per team. All team members must be

currently enrolled SCU students.
• At least 50% of the team MUST be engineering undergraduate students.
• At least 1 non-engineering undergraduate student MUST be on each team (you are

encouraged to recruit students from non-engineering departments that may be able to directly
aid you in the development of your entry; consider business students, art students, etc.).
• Graduate engineering students and professional students from the Business or Law Schools
may be on a team as long as all other team requirements are met.
• Teams must register to enter by emailing Anne Mahacek (amahacek @ scu.edu), stating their
interest and providing a list of all students, their ID numbers, their year, and their
department/school. Teams may begin working on their Phase 1 materials as soon as they

register, but they should realize that the competition will be cancelled if less than 5 teams
register. Once at least five teams have registered, all registered teams will be notified that the
competition has met its minimum entry requirement.
• Designs must meet appropriateness criteria established by the School of Engineering, the
Maker Lab, and the Campus Bookstore; this requires approval of the concept and the final
product by designated School, Maker Lab, and Bookstore personnel.
• Students may only participate on a single team.
• As with product development in the real world, elements of this competition may change
over time. Teams will be updated regarding all such changes; teams should refer often to the
competition web site at innovate.engr.scu.edu for any news or updates regarding the contest,
rules, advice and answers to questions.
• Teams agree to abide by the decision of the judging panel and competition administrators
regarding competition rules, results, and any approved changes/exceptions.
• Depending on student status and award amounts per student, cash prizes may be subject to
tax withholding and may be paid via a university check.
• Students will properly acknowledge the use of any existing copyrighted material or media
within their entry.
• Ownership of the pre-existing underlying intellectual property of the entry remains the
property of the team entering the contest, subject to Santa Clara University’s rights to reprint,
display, reproduce, perform, use, and exhibit the entries and designs for this event and for
Santa Clara University’s future marketing and advertising purposes and events. By
participating in the contest, each entrant grants to Santa Clara University a non-exclusive,
worldwide, fully paid, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable license to reprint, display,
reproduce, perform, use, and exhibit (including the right to make derivative works of) the
entry and materials and information submitted on and in connection with the contest. Each
entrant warrants that the entry and materials and information provided do not contain
confidential information and do not violate any laws or regulations.

OK, here’s some more stuff that the University lawyers make us say:

RELEASE/LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: EACH ENTRANT AGREES TO HOLD THE
SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY HARMLESS FROM AND AGAINST ANY THIRD PARTY
CLAIM ARISING FROM USE OF THE ENTRY. SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY IS NOT
RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST, LATE, DAMAGED, MISDIRECTED, ILLEGIBLE,
INCOMPLETE, OR MUTILATED ENTRIES, OR FOR ANY COMPUTER, ONLINE,
TELEPHONE OR TECHNICAL MALFUNCTIONS, DELAYS OR HUMAN ERRORS THAT
OCCUR IN THE PROCESSING, TRANSMISSION OR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES, OR FOR
INACCURATE TRANSCRIPTION OF ENTRY INFORMATION, OR FOR ENTRIES THAT
ARE STOLEN, MISDIRECTED, GARBLED, LOST OR DELAYED BY COMPUTER
TRANSMISSIONS, OR IF FOR ANY REASON, THE CONTEST IS NOT CAPABLE OF
BEING CONDUCTED AS PLANNED, SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY RESERVES THE
RIGHT AT ITS SOLE DISCRETION TO CANCEL, TERMINATE, MODIFY OR SUSPEND
THE CONTEST.

For more information, questions or comments, contact: Dr. Christopher Kitts, ckitts @ scu.edu
To enter a team and submit a final design, contact: Anne Mahacek, amahacek @ scu.edu
For competition information and updates, see: http://innovate.engr.scu.edu

This contest is being conducted with support from the Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network
and the Santa Clara University School of Engineering.