Design contests, an educational alternative

This paper describes the structure of a design contest, that is followed by a prototype contest, offered to the undergraduate engineering and engineering technology students in Brazil. The event, known as the TMT-Motoco Program for the Incentive of Technological Creativity, or Program TMT-ITC, started in February 2004 and is meant to be repeated annually. TMT-Motoco do Brasil Ltda, a manufacturer of engines and transmissions, is a Brazilian subsidiary of the Tecumseh Products Company, from Michigan, USA report on the program´s operation in 2004 and an early progress report for 2005 is also presented. In the two phases, design and prototype, the selection of the best products is based upon the optimization of an index of merit which emulates a benefit/cost ratio. For the TMT-ITC 2004, the diversity of the engineering solutions brought out by the participants was extraordinary, serving well to demonstrate the difference between the solution of a scientific problem and the solution of a technological problem