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BDI Research and Design Awards

Learn about BDI R+D Awards:

Brandeis Design and Innovation is launching the first annual BDI R+D Awards. Any enrolled students at Brandeis are eligible to win these monetary awards. We want to celebrate the student successes happening in Brandeis library, and showcase all of your innovative and out-of-the-box work. The awards are for any student, any discipline, and any project, physical or digital, that made use of BDI resources.

How it works:

1. Make something!
2. Choose your award.
3. Create a video about your project.
4. Submit by May 15, 2026.
5. If you've made something physical, you need to show it to a BDI full-time staff member between May 1 - May 20, 2026.

We've included award-specific submission tips + an FAQ below!

Choose your Award:

Integrated Spaces Award - $100

This prize celebrates students who take advantage of everything BDI has to offer. The student must clearly demonstrate how they used resources (e.g., equipment or staff) or workshops hosted in all three BDI spaces: MakerLab/Engineering Classroom, Automation Lab, and Digital Scholarship Lab. If you used the DS Lab computers for your project, you need to clearly demonstrate how the faster hardware, specialized software (e.g., ArcGIS, Stata, Metashape, etc.), and/or sandbox environment contributed to your success. Get submission tips here.

Fail Faster Award - $100

This prize celebrates learning from failure. It's for the project that doesn't quite work; for the persistent student who encountered many roadblocks along the way. The student needs to clearly demonstrate how not achieving the intended output has, in fact, positively impacted their ability to make and research. Broken apps, crashes, failed prints, tricky solders, unhinged duct tape repairs -- we want to hear about it all! Get submission tips here.

Deepest Dive Award - $100

This prize celebrates specialization and expertise in a specific area of craft or design. It could be your from-scratch 2 million polygon blender model for a tabletop gaming figure. It could be your 20k lines of code for your machine learning app. It could be your robot that required deep systems integration across electronics, mechanics, and fabrication. It could be your exceptionally high resolution photogrammetry 3D scan of a difficult to capture object. It could be your venture into learning ancient marble carving. It could be the fruits of two semesters' worth of teaching yourself GIS. The farther you go, the deeper the ocean is, and you've gone far and dove deep for this project. Get submission tips here.

Descriptive Documentation Award - $100

This prize celebrates metadata and instructional documentation. Your submission must lay out instructions for future learners to benefit from the learnings and efforts of the project's shepherd. Your documentation can cover your own project, or it can teach a tool/process/methodology that you yourself did not create. We're celebrating your ability to preserve and teach what you know. Get submission tips here.

Building Bridges Award - $200

This prize celebrates multidisciplinary, team-focused work. A team = two or more members. The team members must represent different majors/departments at Brandeis. The project should clearly demonstrate the benefits of different minds coming together. Why should a ceramicist and an environmental scientist work together in the Automation Lab? How could 3D printing technology be integrated into archival research? Get submission tips here.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Award - $100

This prize awards the most creative reuse of deprecated equipment. Equipment is broadly defined: a broken hard drive, old Mac case, a rusty toaster, a ripped jacket, deaccessioned books, an abandoned piece of furniture, etc.. Your submission should clearly show us how broken bits can be retooled into something entirely new and useful. We're not looking for repairs. Instead of fixing a broken zipper on a pair of jeans, consider what other form those jeans might take. Do you make a pair of shoes, maybe wall insulation, or ... ? Your submission can be beautiful, but it must have some function beyond art for art's sake. Get submission tips here.

Submission Tips:

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Integrated Spaces Submission Tips

This project could be a physical object, a digital asset, or both! We're looking for projects that showcase meaningful use of all three labs: the DS Lab, the Automation Lab, the MakerLab (Engineering Classroom counts as MakerLab). Making your submission video in the MakerLab doesn't count as meaningful use of its resources. Nor does using DS Lab computers for simple Google searches.

Address these questions in your video:

Tell us about your project. What is it/what does it do/who is it for?

2. Walk us through the process of creating your project. Explain how you used each BDI lab's resources. Make sure you cover all three. Photos and video clips of the process are highly encouraged.

3. Mention specific tools, software, hardware, staff and/or conversations that helped and tell us why.

Fail Faster Award Submission Tips

This project could be a physical object, a digital asset, or both! Submissions could capture either "hey this is an entirely different output than I intended, but it works and I learned something!" or "this was a total fail, but I learned something". You'll tell us about that experience in your video.

Address these questions in your video:

Tell us about what you tried to make. What is it/what does it do/who is it for?
Tell us the steps you took. What worked, and what didn't? Photos and video clips of the process are highly encouraged.
Explain what you've ended up with: how is this different from your project's original goal? Why is this a valuable output?
Which BDI resources did you use, and how?

Deepest Dive Award Submission Tips

Your submission could be a physical object, digital asset, or both! They will display the result of your deep dive. Your submission video will explain where you dove deep and why.

Address these questions in your video

Tell us about your project. What is it/what does it do/who is it for?
Tell us how you did it. Photos and video clips of the process are highly encouraged.
Spend time focusing on the areas where you dove deepest. Talk about the intense coding sessions, the GIS rabbit holes, the enormous about of knowledge you've amassed about PLA.
Which BDI resources did you use, and how?

Descriptive Documentation Award Submission Tips

This project is about documentation, meaning an asset that teaches others how to do something. The subject of your documentation doesn't matter -- it could be how to build a custom app, or how to make a grilled cheese. We're judging how well you document the process so another person can replicate it.

Your documentation could be a Youtube series, a github repository, a book, anything you can think of! If you've figured out a way to use physical objects to create documentation, great.

Address these questions in your video:

What is the subject of your documentation (e.g., "I made a series of videos about how to choose the best drone for your needs".
Who is your documentation for? Hint: if you're teaching children how to build an app, your documentation should be appropriately geared for their age group.
Walk us through your documentation. Showcase what makes your documentation really effective and meaningful. Use screenshots, video clips, annotations on screen, whatever you want!
Which BDI resources did you use, and how?

Building Bridges Award Submission Tips

This project could be a physical object, a digital asset, or both! It's the result of different students' backgrounds/training inspiring collaboration and new questions.

Address these questions in your video

Tell us about your project. What is it/what does it do/who is it for?
How did you make it? Make sure you explain which BDI resource(s) you used! Photos and video clips of the process are highly encouraged.
Tell us about each person's background/training and what they contributed. Remember, you're showcasing how different minds can work together.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Award Submission Tips

Your submission can be physical, digital, or both! We're looking for projects that take something old and turn it into something new. Your submission can't be a simple repair. So, don't just fix the jeans. Give the jeans some other form: a hat, cell phone case, whatever you come up with! Your submission needs to be functional, so art for art's sake won't count (but it still can look nice, if you want!).

Address these questions in your video

Show us the before (original thing) and after (what you made).
Talk us through the process of making your project. Explain steps, challenges, left turns, etc. Photos and video clips of the process are highly encouraged.
Make sure you explain which BDI resource(s) you used!
Highlight any valuable lessons you learned.

Submission FAQs

When is the deadline?
Submissions are due on May 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM.

Which award should I apply for?

Read the descriptions and choose the award that best represents the work you did. You'll indicate this award on your submission form. You will also read the submission tips section and tailor your video appropriately. During judging, we might decide to consider your project for multiple awards (don't worry -- we won't ask for a second video!).

How do I apply?

You need to complete the submission form. It has space for:

Proof of your project. The submission form provides space to upload links, images, etc. If a digital project, we want to be able to interact with it (watch your video, use your app, etc.).
Three minute submission video
If you've made a physical object, you are required to show it to a BDI FT staff between May 1 - May 20, 2026. This is a quick, 15 minute appointment. No need to prepare anything. We just want to see your project! Book a slot here.

What types of projects are eligible?

Projects that are physical, digital, or both are all eligible.
Submissions can be personal projects, club projects, or tied to class/thesis/dissertation work. Collaborations with faculty are eligible, provided your submission is your own contribution to the project.
Integration of AI is allowed and encouraged. You just need to explain how you used it!
DeisHacks submissions are not eligible, unless you significantly retooled the hack. Check in with Ian Roy or Natalie Susmann with questions.
Email makerlab@brandeis.edu with any questions about your project.

Who is eligible to apply?

Students must be enrolled at Brandeis at least half-time at the undergraduate or graduate level.
BDI student employees (or any library student employee) are eligible.
Groups can apply for any award. Individuals can apply for any award except the Building Bridges Group Award
Judges are BDI Full-Time Staff (Ian Roy, Tim Hebert, Greg Buckland, Natalie Susmann) and guest faculty/staff judges from across Brandeis.

What happens if I win?

Runners-up may be selected, and will receive BDI swag.
Winners must be willing to showcase their projects on BDI’s Featured Projects page. We can keep the description and image very high-level to protect future publication efforts, and/or delay posting until a reasonable deadline if necessary.

Can I apply more than once?
You can submit multiple, unique projects.

Please do not apply for multiple awards using the same project. This will not increase your chances. As mentioned above, choose the award that best suits your project. This is so you can create a focused project video. But, judges may consider your project for other awards (no additional videos needed).