POSTER COMPETITION

HIGH SCHOOL – JUNIOR / SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Junior or Senior high school students enrolled in a welding concentration at the time of submittal.
Presentations should represent technical concepts and application to the welding and AM industry. Practical application and creativity are important and should be demonstrated.

View Suggested Topics (not limited to those listed) for High School, Certificate and 2 Year Students

1. Welding Safety
   a.Hazards (electrical shock, burns, fumes)
   b.PPE (helmets, gloves, leathers)
2. SMAW
   a.Meaning of electrode designations
   b.Flux ingredients and their purpose (cellulosic, rutile, low hydrogen)
   c.Positions
   Effects of polarity
3. GMAW
   a.Metal transfer modes
   b.Effects of gas mixtures
   c.Electrode designations
4. GTAW
   a.Types of electrodes
   b.Effects of gas mixtures
   c.Effects of polarity on penetration and cleaning
5. Mechanical Testing
   a.Tensile Testing of Welds
   b.Hardness Testing
   c.Bend Testing of Welds
6. Types of Weld Defects and Causes
   a.Cracking
   b.Porosity
7. Regions of a Fusion Weld
   a.Fusion Zone
   b.HAZ
8. Preheating of Steels
9. Types of Steels, their properties and weldability.
10. Types of Stainless Steel, their properties and weldability
11. Types of Aluminum, their properties and weldability

Projects students do for SKILLS Competitions or for community service (fabricate grills or smokers or anything else) can also be used for a poste

STUDENT – 2 YEAR COLLEGE / CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

For students enrolled in 2-year college and/or certificate programs at time of submittal.
Presentations need not represent actual experimental work. Rather, an emphasis is placed on demonstrating a clear understanding of technical concepts and subject matter. Practical application is important and should be demonstrated.

View Suggested Topics (not limited to those listed) for High School, Certificate and 2 Year Students

1. Welding Safety
   a.Hazards (electrical shock, burns, fumes)
   b.PPE (helmets, gloves, leathers)
2. SMAW
   a.Meaning of electrode designations
   b.Flux ingredients and their purpose (cellulosic, rutile, low hydrogen)
   c.Positions
   Effects of polarity
3. GMAW
   a.Metal transfer modes
   b.Effects of gas mixtures
   c.Electrode designations
4. GTAW
   a.Types of electrodes
   b.Effects of gas mixtures
   c.Effects of polarity on penetration and cleaning
5. Mechanical Testing
   a.Tensile Testing of Welds
   b.Hardness Testing
   c.Bend Testing of Welds
6. Types of Weld Defects and Causes
   a.Cracking
   b.Porosity
7. Regions of a Fusion Weld
   a.Fusion Zone
   b.HAZ
8. Preheating of Steels
9. Types of Steels, their properties and weldability.
10. Types of Stainless Steel, their properties and weldability
11. Types of Aluminum, their properties and weldability

STUDENT – BACCALAUREATE ENGINEERING

For students enrolled in baccalaureate engineering programs at the time of submittal. The posters should represent the student’s own experimental work. Emphasis is placed on demonstrating a clear understanding of technical concepts and subject matter. Practical application and/or potential relevance to the welding and AM industry is important and should be demonstrated.

STUDENT – BACCALAUREATE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

For students enrolled in engineering technology programs at the time of submittal. The posters should represent the student's own experimental work, applied extension of research, some aspect of applied welding technology, or practical application of a welding process. Emphasis is placed on demonstrating a clear understanding of technical concepts, scientific concepts, and subject matter. Application and/or potential relevance to the welding and AM industry is important and should be demonstrated.

STUDENT – GRADUATE ENGINEERING / ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

For students enrolled in graduate degree programs in engineering or engineering technology at time of submittal.The posters should represent the student’s own experimental work. Poster must demonstrate technical and/or scientific concepts. The emphasis is placed on originality and novelty of ideas presented. Potential relevance to the welding and AM industry is important and should be demonstrated.

PROFESSIONAL – WORKING IN WELDING INDUSTRY

For anyone working in the welding and AM industry or related field.
Posters must demonstrate technical and/or scientific concepts. The emphasis is placed on original contributions and the novelty of their research work. Potential relevance to the welding and AM industry is important and should be demonstrated.

BASIC STRUCTURE

The poster should contain the following sections:

• Title, Author(s), and affiliation(s)
• Problem Statement: Brief overview + concise statement of the problem
• Methods: Brief description of the experimental and computational procedures
• Results: Display the data from the experiments and modeling; limited text
• Discussion: What does the data mean? Explanation of the significance of the results
• Conclusions: Limit to three bullet points (a few easily remembered key conclusions), may note possible future research with additional bullet
• Acknowledgments: Acknowledge individuals, other than authors, who contributed to the project (especially sponsors)

POSTER SIZE AND LAYOUT
Use portrait orientation; do not use landscape orientation

• Size: 28 in. wide x 44 in. long
• Subject must be clearly readable from at least 10 feet away
• Format: PDF Only. Suggest constructing the poster in PowerPoint but saving and submitting the final version as a PDF.
• Bright background colors should not compete with information and overwhelm the viewer

LETTERING

• Title – at least 72 pt., bold Arial font
• Section Headings – at least 48 pt., bold Arial font
• Body Text – at least 24 pt., Arial font
• Use bulleted lists where possible instead of paragraphs
• Dark lettering on a light background is more readable than light colored lettering on a dark background

FIGURES

• Figures should be at least 5” x 7”
• All figures should have captions
• All micrographs should have a scale marker
• Photos at least 300 dpi in the final size; avoid web captures (low resolution); crop photos to highlight the important features
• Use of thin black border around photos to help them stand out from the background is recommended

GRAPHS

• Don’t necessarily use the default spreadsheet format; alter graph text size for readability on poster; consider matching your graph and poster color schemes
• Avoid 3-D graphs (difficult to interpret)

VIDEOS

• Videos must be submitted in AVI, WMV, or MP4 formats. We recommend you use MP4 videos encoded with H. 264 video (MPEG-4 AVC) and AAC audio. 
• Video file sizes must be less than 500MB to be considered for the competition. Consider using video compression software if recording in high definition to limit the final recording size
• Videos must be recorded from a stationary position. Phone videos are acceptable but must avoid shaky footage that can disrupt from the audience’s experience

POSTERS

• Your poster is a visual presentation of information; it should not simply reproduce a written paper at poster size.
• Poster should provide a clear flow of information from introduction to conclusions.
• Text should be concise enough to be read in under 5 minutes.
• Have a colleague or instructor proofread your poster to check for errors and to make sure it reads as smoothly as you think it does.

VIDEOS

• Your video is a visual presentation of poster information; it should not be a verbatim delivery of the poster text. The video should augment the poster with additional context as an avenue for additional discussion and explanation for the content presented.
• Videos should be taken using either screen capture of a PowerPoint version of the poster or a more traditional video recording of the author standing beside a physical version of the poster.
• Creativity is encouraged, but the video must not be completely independent of the poster content.
• Record the video in a well-lit environment free from disruptive background noise. Use a clean background if possible, to avoid background distractions and create a professional feel to the video.
• Practice the delivery to avoid stuttering, overuse of fill words (“um”, “uh”, “well”, “so”, “like”), and long pauses that detract from the presentation.
• Confidence and camera presence are important. Consider things like posture, smiling, body language, speed of the delivery, fidgeting, and excessive movement.
• Authors are welcome to use free video editing software such as Avidemux to compress and edit videos to obtain the best possible final product.

DELIVERY (25 POINTS) – clear explanation of steps taken to address the welding and AM challenge from problem statement through to conclusions.

PRESENTATION (20 POINTS) – quality and clarity of poster layout.

IMAGE AND FIGURE QUALITY (15 POINTS) – clearly labeled and easily understood figures and tables, to include axes and captions. Scale bars must be used in photo/macro/micrographs, and proper use of units is required.

Poster judges include senior technical professionals, engineers, research scientists, professors, and instructors in the fields of welding and AM.

VIDEO SUBMISSION (10 BONUS POINTS) – quality of the verbal delivery that enhances the presentation of information presented in the poster.

OVERVIEW: THE PURPOSES OF THIS COMPETITION ARE TO

• To advance the science, technology and applications of welding, allied joining and cutting processes, and AM through poster length communication of investigative works undertaken to address a technical challenge.
• Highlight quality investigative work in the field of welding, allied joining and cutting, and AM processes along with recognizing the investigators and institutions that support these endeavors.
• Promote the science, technology and applications of welding and AM to address technical and commercial challenges.
• Promote development of students' verbal and written communication skills.
• Promote development of students' knowledge of welding and related technologies.

POSTER REQUIREMENTS, VIDEO REQUIREMENTS, AND SELECTION CRITERIA

• Only those posters submitted online will be considered. Follow the guidelines and word limits indicated.
• Any technical topic relevant to the welding and AM industry are acceptable (e.g. welding and AM processes & controls, welding procedures, welding design, structural integrity related to welding, weld inspection, welding metallurgy, etc.).
• Submittals that are incomplete and that do not satisfy these basic guidelines will not be considered for competition.

Posters accepted for competition will be judged based on technical content, clarity of communication, novelty/relevance of the subject & ideas conveyed and overall aesthetic impression.

VIDEO REQUIREMENTS, AND SELECTION CRITERIA

• Only those videos submitted online will be considered. Follow the guidelines and time limits indicated. 
• Videos must discuss the high points of the poster with good flow of ideas from problem statement, technical approach to solve the problem, data collection and presentation, through to the conclusions without reading verbatim the poster text.  
• Video submissions must be well lit for good visibility of the presenter and the poster with clear audio recordings. Videos that are difficult to see or hear will not be considered for the competition.
• Submittals that are incomplete and that do not satisfy these basic guidelines will not be considered for competition.
  Videos accepted for competition will be judged based on technical content, clarity and confidence of the presentation delivery, and overall impression.