1. Participating in the contest

This contest is free and accessible to all professional users of an official, registered and legal version of SCIA Engineer (Version 17, or higher). Students cannot participate.

Participants in this contest may submit a maximum of 3 projects per company and that must be designed with SCIA Engineer. This contest is open to the projects that have already been completed or still in progress, yet with the design or detailing fully completed. Projects that have been submitted in any SCIA contests before, cannot participate again.

Taking part in the contest is official when the "Registration Form" on the User Contest website has been filled out, submitted, and the participation has been confirmed by email. By registering, the user must agree to have read and fully accepted the contest rules. English is the only allowed language in which the users may present their projects and company.

2. Categories

Each participant can submit one or more projects in each of the following 4 categories:

• Category 1: Buildings (Subcat. A: Buildings smaller than 6,000 m² - Subcat. B: Buildings larger than 6,000 m²)
  Design of buildings, residences, apartments, roof spans for houses, also high-rise buildings… for which SCIA software has been used for modelling, analysis, design and detailing.
  
  » The originality of the design and detailing of the structural work fitting with the architectural design is a decisive factor. Illustration of a BIM process is of special importance. In this category, 2 winners and 6 nominees will be chosen. 1 winner and 3 nominees for small buildings and 1 winner and 3 nominees for large buildings. The definition of small and large buildings will be based on the useful area of the building. SCIA will divide the category into two equal-sized groups after the contest is closed.

• Category 2: Civil Structures
  Any type of structure that fits within civil engineering for which SCIA software has been used. It regards structures including each type of bridge (beam, arch, cable-stayed, suspension bridge…), tunnels, bulkheads, locks, barrages, in short general infrastructure ...
  
  » The level of application of engineering science is decisive.
  In this category, we will have 1 winner and 3 nominees.

• Category 3: Industrial Buildings and Plants
  Design of general steel or concrete structures, power plants, frame structures, large span halls and hangars, pre-engineered buildings… for which SCIA software has been used.
  
  » The focus is on the size of the structure, and the level of detailing, e.g. for the steel or concrete members and connections or reinforcement.
  In this category, we will have 1 winner and 3 nominees.

• Category 4: Special Projects
  Specialty structures – Sustainable, Ecological and Green Structures – Scaffolding – Works of art – Mechanical equipment … Larger projects such as storage tanks, conveyer belts, cold storage installations, supporting structures, playground equipment, cranes, tubular connections … for which SCIA software has been used. To this category also belong stadiums, spectacular roofs.
  
  » Winning criteria are: originality, complexity and creativity.
  In this category, we will have 1 winner and 3 nominees.

We reserve the right to re-classify projects in the applicable category, other than the one in which you have submitted your project, in which case we will inform you immediately.

3. Conditions of Participation

Each confirmed and accepted participant obtains his/her own protected space on the User Contest website, where he/she can publish his/her project(s). No documents can be exchanged by mail or any other media without mutual consent in advance.

On 12 April 2023, the website access will be closed and access to the projects will be revoked. At that date, all the required project materials must be complete and uploaded (see "How to participate?"). Only projects fulfilling the minimum requirements will be admitted and evaluated by the jury.

By taking part in this user contest, the customer grants the contest organizer, its subsidiaries, agents and distributors the permission to use the submitted material for any kind of publication such as the book, websites, newsletters, testimonials, brochures, advertisements, social platforms or any other way. By participating, the participant also certifies that there are no copyrights owned by any third party on the submitted material or the participant has explicit permission by the owner to use it.

4. Prizes, Jury and Evaluation of the Projects

SCIA will give each winner a unique award.

a. Category Prizes

An independent contest jury, composed of academics and professionals from various countries in Europe will gather in May 2023 for the evaluation of the submitted projects. The judging will be done under the guidance of a SCIA representative, who oversees the contest. This person will supervise the correct application of the quotation procedure.

In each category one winner and 3 nominees will be selected by the jury, except for Category 1: Buildings. In this category, 2 winners and 6 nominees will be selected. When all entries are approved and the contest is closed, this category will be divided into 2 equal-sized groups based on the useful area of the building. This way, smaller buildings will also get a fair chance of winning a prize.

The jury will assess the projects taking the following characteristics into account:

• The technical level of the design, detailing and/or the calculations, the use of a BIM workflow, sustainability, environmental conditions, etc.
• The originality and prestige of the project
• The attractiveness and completeness of the project and the way it has been presented in the submitted documents
• The optimal use of the functionalities of the used software solutions

b. Prize of the Jury

From each of the 4 categories, one project will be selected by its sub-jury and put forward to win the ‘Special Prize of the Jury’. The jury will deliberate on these 4 projects and chose a winner by deliberation. Special attention goes to projects having adopted a BIM workflow or illustrate best practices in sustainability, environmental conditions, advanced ecological and green structures.

c. Prize of the Public

This winner will be selected by a voting system via SCIA's Facebook channel, independently of the jury gathering. Facebook users can vote on any of the uploaded projects by clicking its 'like' button. It is allowed to vote on multiple projects. Contest participants can share this dedicated Facebook page with their peers to collect as many votes as possible. If SCIA however notices that voting behaviour on a certain project shows irregularities, we reserve the right to deduct these votes (likes) or ultimately disqualify the participating project.

5. Confidentiality

All information presented in the entry files will remain confidential until the date of the official proclamation of the winners. The members of the jury are obliged to the deliberation secret and only have time-limited access to all project materials during the evaluation period.

6. Presentation of the Projects (What is needed?)

Each submitted project needs to contain the following parts:

• Project Description and Short Company Profile via a Word Template that you can find on our User Contest SharePoint environment
• Company Logo in high resolution, preferably in vectorized format
• Screen captures and/or exported imagery in highest resolution
• Digital photos and/or virtual images of the project in highest resolution
• The SCIA Software Files (.esa) of your project (For SCIA Engineer, Version 17 or higher)
• Optional: any other files that might interest the contest jury and could raise your chance of winning this contest, like movies, vlogs, presentations, engineering reports, etc.

You can upload all information in your private SharePoint environment. You will receive the link after registration.
 

7. Organization of the Contest

The contest is organised by SCIA nv, Corda 2, Kempische Steenweg 309/0.03 - 3500 Hasselt, Tel: +32 11 948610, Email: [email protected]

The contest may be interrupted, postponed or cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The participants waive each right of lodging a complaint or claiming compensation with regard to this ruling.