Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge

Vietnam MCU Design Contest 2014

To encourage students innovation on MCU system design, Texas Instruments announces the MCU
Design Contest for Vietnam Universities for the year 2014.
I. Contest Period
Contest will divide into 2 phases: regional level - southern, northern & central and national level final.
1. Regional Level: Mar 2014 Oct 2014
2. National Level: Nov 2014
II. Contest Content
It is required to use TI MSP430 and Tiva C ARM Cortex-M4F as the main processor. The students
have to design their own hardware platform or/and use existing TI EVMs to implement certain
functions. TI analog, power and wireless connectivity are highly encouraged.
List of recommended MCU devices which are available for sample request:
MSP430G2553/2955
MSP430F5529
MSP430FR5669/5738
TM4C123GH6PM and TM4C123GH6PGE
III. Contest Targets
Qualification: The contest is open to in school Undergraduates. Every team should have 1-3 team
members and 1 lecturer as their advisor. The team members of the winning teams of 2011, 2012 and
2013 contest are not allowed to participate in 2014 contest.
Submit Application Form: All teams should submit an application form for the contest, pronouncing
their group & design target. The application form is available online and can be found by visiting TI
Vietnam support forum: www.diendanTI.com, or can be accessed directly through:
+ for Northern: goo.gl/x7n2k
+ for Central: goo.gl/C9qs7
+ for Southern: goo.gl/K9jSd
IV. Score Criteria
In Regional Elections, the judges will evaluate the project quality by scoring the submitted papers in
English (full design files or demo videos can be a strong complementary support). In both rounds, the
teams will submit the thesis using provided format which can be downloaded from the websites of
participating universities.
Score Criteria for Elections (Total 100):
1. Project Integrity 15
2. Innovation 20
3. Practicality 15
4. Thesis Quality 15
5. Demo Quality (Video) 15
6. TI Analog/Power Engagement 10
7. TI Wireless Connectivity Engagement 10

In Regional & National Finals, the teams need to give a presentation (Please note that teams must do
presentation in English at National Final), Q&A and a live demonstration to the judges.

Score Criteria for Finals (Total 100):
1. Innovation 10
2. Practicality 10
3. TI Analog/Power Engagement 10
4. TI Wireless Connectivity Engagement 10
5. Thesis quality 15
6. Presentation 15
7. Demonstration 30
V. Contest Time Frame
1. Before May 15, 2014: Download & Submit Application Form
2. May 30, 2014: Announce the accepted registrations
3. Before Sep 10, 2014: Submit thesis for election
4. Sep 17, 2014: Election Winners Announcement
5. Oct 2, 2014: Regional Finals (South, North and Central)
6. Nov 6 , 2014: National Final
VI. Regional Level Awards (Each Region; Following Cash Awards are Pretax)
1. Teams who enter the Regional finals will get a Completion of the Contest Award Diploma
Only.
2. 1
st
Class Award: 1, USD800
3. 2
nd
Class: 1, USD400
4. 3
rd
Class: 1, USD200
5. The most promising: USD100
6. The best presentation: USD50
7. Excellence Advisor Awards: The advisors of the 1
st
place winners in the regional finals will be
awarded an amount of US$300.
VII. National Level Awards (Following Cash Awards are Pretax)
1. 1
st
Class Award: 1, USD2000
2. 2
nd
Class: 1, USD1000
3. 3
rd
Class: 1, USD500
4. The most promising: USD300
5. The best presentation: USD200
VIII. Scholarship
Sunflower Missions Engineering & Technology Scholarships for EACH of the members of the top 3
teams of the regional finals that meet the following criteria. The scholarship is in the amount of
$300.
1. The money is to be used only for educational purpose as outlined below and only in the
field of Engineering & Technology
2. Students NOT in the last semester of undergraduate program must provide
a. grade report for the last two completed semesters (fall 2013 and spring 2014)
b. all grades for the last two semesters must be better than 7/10 to qualify
c. name of undergraduate degree being pursued
d. year of graduation
3. Students ALREADY in last semester of their undergraduate study must produce
a. proof of the current institution stating the student will graduate in December 2014
b. proof of admission to a graduate degree that includes name of the institution
c. the graduate degree must be in the field of Engineering & Technology
d. letters of recommendation from two professors in the current semester of
undergraduate study attesting to know the student will pursue the graduate
program in the spring of 2015. The letters from the professors must contain full
name, title, university he/she belongs to, email, and telephone number
4. Students who have already been awarded E&T scholarship from Sunflower Mission in
2014 are NOT qualified to apply again.
5. Students will have to submit a headshot & material to meet criteria described in 2 and 3
above by 11/29/2014 to our TI VN team to receive the scholarship by 01/30/2015.

IX. Contest Organization
Organizer: Texas Instruments Inc.
Co-organizer:

Regional level:
1. Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST North)
2. Ho Chi Minh University of Technology (HCMUT - South)
3. Danang University of Technology (DUT Central
National level: Da Nang University of Technology (DUT)

Consultant: Mrs. Duy Loan Le (TI)
Mr. Sunny Lee (TI)
Mr. PHAM Van Tuan (DUT)
Mr. Nguyen Huu Thanh (HUST)
Mr. Do Hong Tuan (HCMUT)
Secretariat: PHAM Xuan Trung (DUT), Nguyen The Nghia (DUT)
Do Hanh (HUST)
Ho Thanh Phuong (HCMUT)
Contest Judges for regional finals:
North Region: 1 professor (HUST), 1 engineer from Industry, 1 TI Local FAE.
Central Region: 1 professor (DUT), 1 engineer from Industry, 1 TI Local FAE.
South Region: 1 professor (HCMUT), 1 engineer from Industry, 1 TI Local FAE.

Contest Judges for regional finals: To be announced later.

Please contact below addresses for inquiry if any:
North Region: Mr. Xuan Kien Nguyen (xuankien.nguyen@ti.com)
Central Region: Mr. Thai Hung Le (thaihung.le@ti.com)
South Region: Mr. Quoc Nguyen (q-nguyen@ti.com)

TI reserves the right of interpretation and modification to all Rules & guidance listed above.

TI Vietnam University MCU Design Contest Terms and Conditions PLEASE READ
Please read and accept the following terms and conditions prior to making any submissions or providing any ideas or
materials to TI. All submissions made for the TI Vietnam University MCU Design Contest (TIVUMDC) are subject to these
terms and conditions and by making the submission, you would be deemed to have unconditionally acknowledged and
accepted the same:
1. Teams must be composed of no more than three (3) students total and one (1) advising teacher. Each team member
must be enrolled in an accredited educational institution as a full-time student at all times during participation on the
team and must ensure in writing at the lime of entry and submission of the design that he/she is in fact a full-time
student.
2. To be eligible to compete, each team must read and complete the entire entry form and submit on time. There are NO
ENTRY FEES.
3. Use of a TI MCU (MSP430 or Tiva C) in the contest is required. TI Analog and Wireless Connectivity are highly
encouraged.
4. All final contest designs must be submitted to the TIVUMDC organizer according to the requirements of the rules and
must be RECEIVED on time! Participants will not be allowed to change or supplement their design submissions once
they have been received. All contest design submissions must consist of the following:
A report which describes a TI MCU application. The report must be in both Microsoft Word and PDF formats, and
cannot exceed twenty (20) pages. Anything after twenty (20) pages may not be read.
Final contest design submissions must be consistent with the abstract on the team's entry form.
5. All entrants and advising professors agree to follow and abide by the design requirements and judging criteria.
6. All entrants and advising professors warrant and represent that all contest design ideas and applications submitted to TI
are entirely original and that they are the owners of all interests in and rights to such designs.
7. No confidential relationship is established between TI and the entrants and advising professors as a result of entering
the TIVUMDC. None of the information submitted by the participants will be treated by TI as trade secrets,
confidential information or as protected data under any obligation.
8. To protect participants intellectual property rights, (and our ability to publish the contest design submissions), all
entrants and their advising professors agree to be bound by the contest requirements for licensing of non-exclusive
rights. Ownership of the design ideas and contest design submissions (hereinafter "Designs") shall remain with the
entrants and their advising professors. All entrants and advising professors hereby grant TI Incorporated and its
corporate subsidiaries a non-exclusive, world-wide, perpetual and royalty-free license to use the Designs in. or as part
of, TI MCU products or products containing or utilizing TI MCUs, to modify the Designs for such uses, and to publish
the Designs for such uses by TI or by customers of TI under all Practicality intellectual property rights related to the
Designs, including but not limited to, patents, trade secrets.
9. Taxes and other obligations are solely the responsibility of the winners. The awards to the Winners are after-tax.
10. No entries or final design submissions will be returned to participants, regardless of whether they are accepted. All
entries and final design submissions become the property of TI Incorporated and its corporate subsidiaries.
11. Judges for the contest will be fully competent and are required lo be fair and impartial. Names of the contest judges will
be published.
12. Employees of TI and their immediate families are prohibited from entering this contest.