On this page you can find resources that you can download such as the official application criteria that all applications will be judged on.
You’ll also find samples and guides that have helped the Cup earn recognition from the White House in 2015 and 2016—and perhaps most importantly have received very high praise from students and faculty across the world. As the former student president of the CMU senior design club once said, everyone there was using them and “…they are worth their weight in golden sheets of paper.” We hope you find them useful too.
If you have questions about the provided criteria especially, please be sure to check the FAQ and attend one of the live online information sessions.
Made Free for You
Please note, although still written for an introductory audience, many of the original guides developed by the Cup have been updated in the development of the eCornell Systems Design certificate program and are also being used in INCOSE’s first knowledge exam equivalent experience in the world—Cornell Systems Engineering’s SYSEN5100 course. These most recent versions are being made available to Cornell Cup student team members for free. If they are desired to be used/shared within a classroom, company training, or similar situation, permission must be granted first—please contact us at cornellcupusa@cornell.edu with your request.
Application
How to Start & Run a Project Guides
You are not required to use or create any of these kinds of documents. However, we are honored to make them available to those who may be interested in using them. With that being said the Decision Matrix guide and its supporting guides are one of the most popular.
- Defining Scope (pdf)
- Context Diagram Sample (ppt)
- Use Case Diagram Sample (ppt)
- Defining Your System (pdf)
- Decision Matrix Guide (pdf)
- Sample Decision Matrix (xlsx)
- Performance Tips & Tricks (pdf)
- Quality Functional Deployment (aka House of Quality) Guide (pdf)
- QFD Example & Template (xlsx)
- Interface Guide (pdf)
- Timeline Guidelines (docx)
- Sample Timeline (xlsx)
- Bill of Materials Guide (docx)
- Sample Bill of Materials (xlsx)
- Brainstorming Risks Guidelines (docx)
Semifinals
- Semi-Finals Judging Criteria (xlsx)
- Peer Review Criteria (xlsx)
- Presentation Tips & Tricks (docx)
- Sample Graph Slides (pptx)
Final Project Information
- Final Report Topics (docx)
- Final Report Recommended Outline (docx)
- Final Presentation Criteria (xlsx)
- Final Report Criteria (xlsx)
- Final Expo Demo Criteria (xlsx)