UNM & CNM's App Contest

$$$ With Thousands of Dollars in Prizes $$$

The Office of the Chief Information Officer at the University of New Mexico (UNM) is sponsoring its annual App Contest, providing an opportunity for undergraduate students from UNM and Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) to develop and apply app design and presentation skills to plan useful applications for the community.

Some contestants who are non-resident aliens may be subject to withholding tax on prize money according to rules that apply generally to payments of U.S. source income to foreign persons, and could receive significantly less that the amounts noted above (up to 30% depending on specific factors which we can’t anticipate ahead of time). If you have questions regarding withholding tax, please email appcontest@unm.edu for more information.

Mission

This year's contest focuses on developing a plan and a pitch. Develop an idea and form a team to build a "high fidelity" prototype and design. Your submission will be your proposal and road map for further coding and development.

General Contest Overview

1. Register to participate and receive updates.
   • Kick Off - Meet the Mentors Session Tuesday, September 17th from 3 pm - 6 pm UNM Rainforest Innovations
   • Register for Figma Virtual Session Thursday, October 17th from 3 pm - 5:30 pm.
   • Must register no later than Thursday, October 31st to be eligible to submit an entry in this year’s contest.
2. Develop your idea, form a team.
3. Build a prototype, review, plan, repeat.
4. Check In, email questions, talk to your mentor, sign up for virtual figma session.
5. Submit Figma (or similar) plan, diagrams, documentation (see Submission Process).
6. Finalize documents for submission.
7. Prepare a compelling presentation.
8. Meet with mentors to refine your pitch, and review your materials.
9. Attend the Presentation Day and Awards Ceremony.

Go to the Calendar for specific dates, Rules for eligibility and requirements, and Resources for additional support information.

UNM and CNM faculty and staff, along with experienced mentors will provide support to these projects through workshops and mentorship. UNM, CNM, and  the City of Albuquerque have invested in open data sets which are available to make the apps more useful. Data sets include: UNM events, class schedule data, campus locations, Route 66 images, bike paths, list of local businesses, and more. 

Through this effort, we hope to inspire students to develop skills in concept, planning, design, development, collaboration, and presentation skills which are increasingly valuable in our information economy, and to yield apps that can improve an experience for our students and beyond.

Any information requests can be made to appcontest@unm.edu.

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