Budget-Friendly
No entry fee—$50–100 per team.
$1,000 prize every semester
Build fast. Prove it works.
The national sprint for makers who move.
An AI-enhanced rapid-prototyping challenge for university teams. No entry fee. No travel. Just 14 days to turn an ambitious idea into working hardware.
14 days
$0 entry
100% remote
Why Proto-Dash?
Zero Travel
All work in your own lab—focus on building, not logistics.
AI-Enhanced
Use generative tools to ideate, code, and document faster.
Showcase Talent
Create a working prototype and a portfolio of your design, testing, and documentation.
MVP in 14 Days
Iterate fast, gather real data, deliver working hardware.
By the Numbers
Recommended team size
6–8 studentsBuild window
2weeksMaterials
$50–100 per teamPrize guidance
$1,000 prize every semesterHow It Works
From the first preview to the final announcement, every team follows the same clear competition path.
Preview the Competition
Review the public project hint, schedule, prizes, and recommended tools and materials before committing.
Register Your Team
Create your team profile, identify your university, and share each member's name, major, and college year.
Reveal the Objective
When your team is ready, accept the agreement and reveal the full challenge. This starts your build timer.
Build & Test
Design, prototype, iterate, and validate the solution in your own makerspace before the timer expires.
Upload Your Work
Submit every required file, image, PDF, or link from the competition's submission-materials checklist.
Sponsor Judging
After the competition closes, judges from sponsor organizations evaluate the completed submissions with the published rubric.
Winners Announced
Final results, winners, scores, and judge feedback are published for participating teams.
Current Competitions
Circular Manufacturing Challenge - Fall 2026
- 1st Place: $1,000
Project hint:
This challenge falls broadly within recycling, sustainability, and resource-conscious engineering.
Teams should expect a challenge that may involve investigating how materials are currently used, discarded, processed, or recovered and considering how engineering could improve that system. Successful teams may need to combine research, experimentation, rapid prototyping, and ideas from multiple engineering disciplines.
The exact challenge objective will be revealed when the team's competition timer begins.
Recommended tools & materials
No specialized equipment is required in advance. Teams should have access to a general-purpose engineering prototyping workspace and should be prepared to experiment with physical materials.
Useful resources may include:
- Basic hand and measurement tools
- General electronics and prototyping components
- Microcontrollers, sensors, motors, and other common electromechanical components
- Basic fabrication materials and assorted hardware
- Access to common makerspace equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters, or machine tools
- Adhesives, fasteners, wire, connectors, and general assembly supplies
- Appropriate personal protective equipment
- A computer for research, design, programming, CAD, AI tools, and documentation
- Equipment for photographing and recording prototype development and the final demonstration
Teams are not expected to purchase challenge-specific materials before beginning. The exact materials and fabrication methods required will depend on the approach each team develops.
Competition & Project Archive
Past challenges and projects shared with permission. Competition submissions and judge feedback stay in participant dashboards.
No past competitions are published in this archive yet. Looking for an earlier event or project? Contact the organizers for available records.
Illustrative Judging Rubric
This example shows the kinds of qualities Proto-Dash may value; it is not the scoring model for an active competition. Registered participants receive the published competition-specific rubric in their dashboard.
| Category | Description | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Functionality | Meets objective & captures relevant data. | 25% |
| Quality & Robustness | Reliable construction & repeatability. | 20% |
| Affordability | Cost-effective BOM & common tools. | 15% |
| Manufacturability | Easy to reproduce in a typical makerspace. | 15% |
| Documentation | Clear report, professional video, complete CAD & data. | 15% |
| Innovation | Creative AI use & sustainability impact. | 10% |
FAQ
Can we use AI tools?
Yes — just disclose how they were used in your documentation.
Team size?
We recommend 6–8 students per team. Smaller and larger teams are welcome unless an event specifies otherwise.
Resources allowed?
Any makerspace equipment & external services—just credit them.
Does the prototype need to be perfect?
No — an MVP with real data is the goal; document limitations.
Who judges?
Engineers from sponsor companies review asynchronously.
Email contact@proto-dash.com for more questions.
Example Prototyping Spaces & Prototypes
Sponsors & Partners
