Question 1

Can I participate by myself or do I need to join a team?

Accepted Answer

You can participate by yourself as a team of 1 person or as a team of up to 5 persons. Once you register for this event, we will contact you via email to find out if you wish to do one of the following:

1. Work alone.
2. Join with your friends to form a team of up to 5 persons. Your friends need to register individually. 
3. Join a team with people you don't know already. If you select this option, we will place you into a team of up to 5 persons.

Question 2

How will my video be judged?

Accepted Answer

Your video will be judged in four areas:

PROBLEM & CUSTOMER (counts for 10% of your team score)

SOLUTION (counts for 40% of your team score)

ORIGINALITY (counts for 30% of your team score)

VISUAL REPRESENTATION (counts for 20% of your team score)

Question 3

How do I submit my video?

Accepted Answer

You must first upload your video to Youtube, so make sure whatever tool you use to make your video can create a video in a format that Youtube accepts.
Once you have uploaded your video, make sure it can be viewed by the public.
Copy the URL link to your video and send it to us via email. We will provide you the email address on September 25, 2022.

Question 4

Is there a financial cost for me to participate?

Accepted Answer

No, this event is free of charge to join.

Question 5

Which of the events during the 48 hours of the event am I required to attend? Which ones are optional? When can I get help from the mentor?

Accepted Answer

Welcome and Keynote Speaker session (highly encouraged, but not required)
We highly encourage every participant to attend the Welcome and Keynote Speaker session at 6:00 pm CDT (UTC -5) on the 23rd of September, Friday. During this  35 minute session, details of the flooding problem will be revealed to teams to enable them to learn more about this problem on their own and then generate solutions to overcome this problem. Also, directions regarding mentoring sessions and submitting team solution video will be provided. Finally, our Keynote Speaker will welcome the young adults participating in this event.

Teams which cannot attend this Welcome and Keynote Speaker session will receive information via email regarding the details of the flooding problem and other related directions regarding mentoring sessions and submitting team solution video.

Mentoring Sessions (highly encouraged, but not required)
Starting at 8:00 pm CDT (UTC -5) on the 23rd of September, Friday, teams can start meeting with Peter Han, the mentor, for 15 minute sessions to better understand how to generate solutions and make videos to submit for judging. A registration form will be sent to each team to enable them to reserve 15 minute sessions with Peter from 8:00 pm to 10:30 pm CDT (UTC -5) on the 23rd of September, Friday.  Teams can also reserve 15 minute sessions with Peter from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm CDT (UTC -5) on the 24th of September, Saturday. Teams can also contact Peter at smartcityhouston@gmail.com (mailto:smartcityhouston@gmail.com)to request mentoring sessions outside of these time periods.

Submitting the Team Video Solution (required)
Teams must submit their videos which show their team solution no later than 6:00 pm CDT (UTC -5) on the 25th of September, Sunday, by sending a link to their Youtube video to:  smartcityhouston@gmail.com (mailto:smartcityhouston@gmail.com)

Thanks and Closing (highly encouraged, but not required)
We highly encourage every participant to attend the Thanks and Closing session at 6:00 pm CDT (UTC -5) on the 25th of September, Sunday. During this 25 minute session, we will invite participants to share highlights of their team solution with everyone in the audience, explain when winners will be recognized and share opportunities for teams to continue working the event organizers on other real-world projects.