The 2022 China-U.S. Young Maker Competition Is Officially Here!

The 2022 China-US Young Maker Competition is officially here!

For our long-term Hackster community members, you might be very familiar with this annual contest. It’s the 7th year that Hackster is hosting this contest as the U.S. administrator.

In celebration of the contest launch, we interviewed some of the past contest winners and would love to share their stories of how participating in the contest impacted their growth journey as young innovators.

Evan Rust, who has won the China-U.S. Young Maker Competition three times in 2021, 2020, and 2019, is a 20-year-old IoT and embedded systems enthusiast. He is currently a senior in computer science at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and also a contributor to Hackster News. Rust has been on Hackster since high school and started participating in the community and the contests to win free hardware that would otherwise be hard for him to get.

"It was great having the opportunity to work on projects that could have a tangible impact on the world, and being able to share with other makers allowed me to share ideas with others in a collaborative environment."

Check out his Open Source Pulse Oximeter, which won the Hackster Impact Detect Award in the COVID-19 Detect and Protect Challenge with the United Nations as well.

Devin Mui, who is an undergraduate computer science student at the University of Southern California, also joined Hackster when he was still in high school. By participating in the contests, he is able to keep his connections and bond with high school buddies that went to other colleges by building projects together. Mui just got an offer to work as a software engineer at Meta, formerly known as Facebook. His contest entries and experiences of how to collaborate with other team members remotely helped him build an amazing tech portfolio. Check out his team’s winning project in the 2018 China-U.S. Young Maker Competition: Blindsight - Virtual Eyes Through Haptic Feedback.

David Bershadsky, a second-year electrical engineering student at Princeton, created the AutoSteri UV sterilization robot out of practical inspiration from the COVID period living in his dorm and had to share a bathroom with a roommate that he did not trust. David was a finalist in the 2020 China-U.S. Young Makers Competition.

Wesley Eccles from New Mexico found out about Hackster from the IoT bootcamp that his school hosted. His project, Early Forest Fire Detection System, won the final competition first prize in the 2021 China-U.S. Young Makers competition ($7,500 award), and the exposure and visibility brought him an interest in commercialization and deployment from many other regions in the United States.

Mithun Das is a Connecticut-based hardware engineer by day and his project TraceX-Contact Tracing & Social Distancing claimed the grand prize of the 2020 final competition, which earned him $15,000 in prize money. He says that getting exposure exceeds the excitement of receiving prize money. The true value of the contest is that it is a big platform for any young makers or students to build a network.

“Without any doubt, the China-U.S. Young Maker Competition was the biggest event I have participated in. I would encourage all young makers and students to take this as an opportunity to showcase your idea on this platform where you will meet a great panel of judges from academia and many industries. Be mindful. :-) It’s an international competition and you should raise your bar and give the best. Good luck!”

Every year, we invite students and young innovators from around the US to participate in the contest and are inspired by their stories. Read more about Paul Trebilcox-Ruiz’s full journey and how it played a part in him getting a great new job! Another frequent participant, Brian Cottrell, went to China six times after building connections through his contest experiences. Cottrell says:

"I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the maker spirit embraced with such enthusiasm on the other side of the world. The final competition was the perfect celebration for showcasing everyone's hard work and establishing a sense of community. I left the event with countless new ideas that inspired me to continue tinkering so I could participate again."

Through the last seven community contests, we've seen incredible support from all participating contest hosts. lntel was Hackster’s partner in organizing and planning the challenge for the first two years. From 2018 onward, Google joined the Chinese Ministry of Education in hosting the contest. International travel to and from China became restricted starting in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the competition carried on, shifting to virtual presentations. Although US finalists could no longer compete in Beijing, many participants found that the virtual format worked well for them as it reduced anxiety caused by presenting on stage or needing to solve technical emergencies while travelling abroad, provided more time to make project improvements before the finals and inspired participants to showcase their creative projects in their own environments.

We’re calling for all young makers in the U.S. to join in this unique experience and participate in the 2022 challenge! Whether you’re a college student or a technical enthusiast, as long as you are between the ages of 18 and 40, you are qualified to participate!

Here are some more “Hackster picks” as cool projects we like that came out of the previous competitions:

SolBox (2019): This project is a UV and temperature monitor with a Bluetooth speaker that prevents exposure to dangerous levels of UV rays through notifications and reminders.

Clean Water AI (2018): This project uses AI to detect dangerous bacteria and harmful particles in drinking water.

Skin Cancer AI (2019): This project uses real-time offline AI to detect skin cancer.

Sentinel Conservation via Aerial Reconnaissance and Escort (2021): This project uses a drone to target and scare away pests to prevent the destruction of property, livestock, or agriculture.

OmniArm - The future of prosthetics (2021): This project took prosthetic arms to the next level with integrated AI for better control, somatosensory feedback, and reduced rehabilitation.

We're also calling for student ambassadors!

We’re looking for student ambassadors to help us recruit participants. Your task is simple:

• Help us introduce this global stage opportunity to your professors, school faculties, and advisors.
• Download this flier and post it on your campus bulletin boards.

If you’re interested in helping lead an initiative at your local school, contact contests@hackster.io to learn more about ambassador opportunities — perks are available!