Instructables & 3D Hubs Launch Their 3D Printing Contest 2016 with 15 3D Printers Up for Grabs

Do-it-yourself maker community Instructables is teaming up with global 3D printing network 3D Hubs for a new contest that will see 15 lucky winners walking away with a top of the line desktop 3D printer. The 3D Printing Contest 2016 is looking like it is going to be one of the biggest 3D printing design competitions of the year, and they have an impressive prize pool to prove it. Winners will be able to win one of an assortment of some of the most popular 3D printers on the market, not to mention 3D printing vouchers being awarded for every contest entry.

To enter, Instructables users simply need to create a 3D printing project eligible in one of the contest’s three categories and upload it as a complete Instructable. The entry must be uploaded as a fully formatted step-by-step, photo, or video Instructable, and it can be uploaded either via desktop or using the Instructables smartphone app. Once the entry has been published to Instructables, the user needs to select the “3D Printing Contest 2016” check box under the Open Contests section in order to be considered. The Instructables staff will verify that the entry is eligible based on each category’s criteria within one business day.

The entry must be published between April 4th, 2016 and June 27th (11:59pm PT), 2016 in order to be considered. Selected entrants will be eligible to win one of three categories, each with a different set of prizes available. The Instructable can be considered for all three of the categories if it is eligible, however a single Instructable can only win in one of the categories. All of the entries will be judged on not only the quality of the project, but the quality of the entered Instructable, including creativity, the quality of the presentation, and the final execution of the Instructable itself.

Once the contest closes on June 27th the judges will select 65 of the entered Instructables as finalists. The winning Instructables will be selected on July 11th and they will be announced on July 12th. The Grand Prize Winners will be chosen by combining the judges’ scores and the community scores until all nine of the highest scored entries are chosen in the Best Instructable category. Additionally there will be three Judges’ Prize winners in the Best Health Related Instructable category chosen by Zortrax and three Judges’ Prize winners in the Best Fully 3D Printable Instructable category chosen by Ultimaker.

To be considered for the Best Instructable, it should be a project including 3D models, projects with 3D printed parts, or any other type of project that is 3D printing-related. Multiple Grand Prizes will be selected for the Best Instructable category, and five of those Grand Prize winners will receive one of five available 3D printer models. Selected winners will receive either a DeltaWASP, a Witbox 2, a MakerGear M2, SeeMeCNC’s Rostock Max or an Ultimaker 2 Extended+. Four additional Grand Prize winners will be selected to receive either a BEETHEFIRST 3D printer, a CEL Robox, a Craftbot Plus or a LulzBot Mini.

There are 15 3D printers up for grabs!

The three Judges’ Prize Winners selected for the Best Fully 3D Printable Instructable category will receive either a Ultimaker 2 Go, an Ultimaker 2+ or an Ultimaker 2+ Extended. Entries in this category must be 100% 3D printable or only require a few screws to function. Three Judges’ Prize Winners will be selected to receive a Zortrax M200 for the Best Health Related Instructable category, which may include projects for assistive technology, ergonomically designed builds, bio related, or any project that was created to improve people’s lives.

Additionally there will be 50 Runner Up Prizes awarded, each consisting of a $50 3D printing services voucher for 3D Hubs and an Instructables prize pack that will include a contest t-shirt. And every single Instructable that is entered into the contest and eligible to win will be awarded a $10 3D printing voucher from 3D Hubs. Those are a lot of prizes and vouchers available, especially considering last year saw 591 entries, including amazing projects like a 3D printer made from LEGO, an automatic knitting machine and a retinal imaging device attachment for a smartphone. You can find out more about the contest, and upload your entries here. Let us know your thoughts over in the 3D Printing Contest forum at 3DPB.com.