Already this season, I am aware of multiple events that were unable to award the Innovate Award because the Judging team felt there were no teams who met the criteria. I certainly understand that if teams do not submit themselves for the award or do not have an interview or notebook that supports earning the award, this is an acceptable outcome. However, I have concerns that the submission process itself could be a hindrance to the award. To that end, I have the following questions.
May Judge Advisors and Event Partners who wish to do so, provide blank Innovate Award Submission Forms to teams at check in?
The location requirement of the form has changed multiple times, from the last entry in December of 2023, to immediately after the Table of Contents in June of 2024, to immediately after the cover page in August of 2024. While each version of the form contains the correct location directions, it's fairly easy for a team to end up with the incorrect version of the form, as Google search results include links to old forms. Given this, must Judge Advisors interpret the language on page 20 of the current guide, which reads
The team must indicate to Judges where this aspect can be found in their Engineering Notebook via the Innovate Award Submission Information Form, placed behind their Engineering Notebook’s front cover.
to mean that any team submitting the form elsewhere must be ruled out in all cases? I am aware that in a previous q&a answered August 14th that the CJC stated
The location of the Innovate Award Submission Form is a requirement.
But given the scenario of a team using a June form placed behind the Table of Contents, do Judge Advisors have any flexibility in ruling teams eligible?