Subject: Final reports and US visas

Hello WESC teams,

The countdown is on! I hope all of you are progressing nicely on your projects. Remember that you can get your questions answered easily on our forum site: http://windowschallenge.learningce.com/default.aspx. There are also two more chats next week that you can tune in to get questions answered: http://windowschallenge.learningce.com/News/341.aspx

As a reminder - Final reports are due on April 16, 2006 (midnight [23:59 am] PST) for all teams in the competition, with the exception of the teams in India. We encountered serious issues with customs in India and, as a result, these teams did not receive their kits until April 3 or 4; they will receive a 5-day extension on their final report submissions. Reports for teams in India are due on April 21, 2006 (midnight [23:59 am] PST). Please note: we will be monitoring the submissions of all reports and will NOT accept any late submissions, with the exception of the new deadline for the teams in India.  All other teams’ reports must be submitted by April 16, 2006 (midnight [23:59 am] PST). Here is a time zone converter to help you figure out what time this is in your part of the world.

For guidelines, please follow the IEEE/CSIDC's Final Report Outline (http://www.computer.org/portal/site/ieeecs/menuitem.c5efb9b8ade9096b8a9ca0108bcd45f3/index.jsp?&pName=ieeecs_level1&path=ieeecs/education/csidc&file=report.xml&xsl=generic.xsl&).

o        Reports must be submitted electronically in MS Word or PDF format only. Zip files are also acceptable. Reports will not be accepted as .rar files.

o        For report formatting/naming guidelines, please follow the IEEE/CSIDC’s submission guidelines: http://www.computer.org/portal/site/ieeecs/menuitem.c5efb9b8ade9096b8a9ca0108bcd45f3/index.jsp?&pName=ieeecs_level1&path=ieeecs/education/csidc&file=submission.xml&xsl=generic.xsl&.

o        Once final reports have been accepted, they will be judged according to the IEEE Final Report Guidelines and CSIDC's judging criteria (http://www.computer.org/portal/site/ieeecs/menuitem.c5efb9b8ade9096b8a9ca0108bcd45f3/index.jsp?&pName=ieeecs_level1&path=ieeecs/education/csidc&file=judge.xml&xsl=generic.xsl&). The top 30 teams from around the globe will be invited to come to Redmond, WA, and to participate in the ChallengE finals.

To submit final reports:

1. Open your Internet Browser.

2. Type www.windowschallenge.com.

3. Click the Login button.

4. Type your Username and Password. Your Username is your email address. Your password was e-mailed to you after your team registered for the contest. (If you need a password reminder, please send me an e-mail.)

Finally – for those teams outside the U.S., if your team is selected as one of our finalists, you will need a passport and a visa to visit the U.S. We recommend booking your team’s visa consulate appointments early, as the wait time in some cases can be weeks. I’m attaching a document to help answer questions about U.S. visas. You can also visit the http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/ web site for more information.  

Please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck with your final reports!

Liz Halverson

Windows Embedded Student ChallengE

http://www.windowschallenge.com