Contest Rules

Eligibility

Entrants must be or have been enrolled in at least one class at either UNM or CNM within the past year. An unofficial transcript from UNM or CNM will be required from finalists.

DEADLINES

1. Register to participate in the contest by October 31st, 2025, at 11:59 PM. No late registrations will be accepted*.
2. Submit your eligible submission with all required application documentation (as described in the Technical Score parameters below). An eligible submission is defined as follows: “an new, unpublished application that depicts functions in prototype or demonstration form, and is submitted by the first technical scoring deadline of November 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM." No late submissions will be accepted*.  Any questions, email appcontest@unm.edu.
3. The applicants who are determined to be finalists after the Technical Scoring (includes Extra Technical Points) will be notified to attend a mandatory practice session and then submit final presentation slides by Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 by noon.  No late presentations after this date will be accepted*.

*if you have extenuating circumstances, please contact appcontest@unm.edu.

Scoring Parameters

Apps will be judged in two stages. The first stage is a review by the IT technical team according to the technical score parameters below. The top ten technical finalists will advance to the second stage for the presentation pitch delivered in front of the judges, where those apps will be scored according to the presentation score below. The final score that determines first, second and third place will be the combination of the technical score, the extra points, plus the presentation score.

Technical Score (pre-filled by the technical reviewers)

 Extra Technical Points

Contestants are highly encouraged (these points often make a difference in helping to determining the winner at each level) to earn extra points in the following ways:

• 5 extra credit points – Participate in the kickoff session September 18^th, 2025.
• 5 extra credit points - Attend a prototyping or other meet up session, date and time TBD.
• A maximum of 10 extra technical points can be earned.

Presentation Score (Presentation Day Judge Scoring)

Submission Criteria

For complete details please see the Submission Process page.

Judging & Winners

After submitting your prototype and other required materials by the November 7^th deadline for your First Stage Technical Scoring and Determination of the 10 Finalists process, the finalists will be contacted to schedule a Presentation Day mandatory practice session where you will give your draft presentation for your app and ideas to the program team for edits and critique.  This is meant to help you get ready for Presentation Day!  It is highly recommended that ALL your team members attend the practice session because the feedback you could incorporate might make a critical difference in your performance and presentation score!  You will have until November 19^th at noon to edit and enhance your final presentation which needs to be emailed on or before this date.

On Presentation Day and Awards, you/your team will give your Presentation Day pitch to the presentation judges, which are business and community leaders in New Mexico as well as other states.  They will not have seen any of your materials or drafts, so your Presentation Score is entirely dependent on how well you present your pitch in-person to these judges!  Practice is essential. You will have 8-minutes ONLY for presentation, and 4-minutes ONLY for Q&A by the judges. You will be TIMED!!!! You will NOT be allowed to exceed the allotted time. You will not be allowed to continue presenting during your Q&A allotment of time. Judges will give you/your team a Presentation Score based on the above Presentation Score parameters and then deliberate for final scoring.

NOTE: Your FINAL SCORE will be comprised of your Technical Score, Your Extra Technical Points and Your Presentation Score.  The winner will be the person/team with highest total, therefore, doing your best to achieve the highest score possible in each of these three categories is essential to earning the highest award level!

All Presentation Day participants will be required to attend the Awards Ceremony, which follows the last presentation at Presentation Day at approximately 4:00 pm. More detail is given in the Submission Process section.

Intellectual Property and Ownership

We intend that the intellectual and commercial property right remain with the entrants and winners. However, we ask to have rights to use images, names and screen shots for marketing and promotional purposes.

Need Help

If you have questions or technical challenges, please contact appcontest@unm.edu by email and your question can be answered, clarified or forwarded to a subject matter expert for follow up.

­­­­Contest Submission Process

Submission Requirements and Due Dates: 

All draft materials described below due by the submission deadline of 11:59 PM on Friday, November 7^th, 2025 via an email to appcontest@unm.edu with the subject line of:  App Contest Technical Submission – <Team or App Name>

Submission Criteria

Apps being pitched will be judged for technical parameters initially by submitting to appcontest@unm.edu all required materials as described below in PDF or Word Document only!

1. A short bio on the developer(s)/team,
2. 3 screen shots of the application, could be used for score card identification or promotional materials,
3. A document stating purpose, audience, functions, pathways to satisfaction.
4. A document stating proposed technical aspects.
5. A document describing
6. A link to your prototype. Make sure that the technical judges have access to this prototype (use the “share” feature, then set permissions to viewable by anyone with the link).

Finalist Selection

We will pick up to 10 finalists out of all the submissions entered. There are currently many teams interested in competing. The first cut will be made on the technical score and the extra technical points.

Finalist Notification

The finalists will be notified with an invitation to select a general Presentation Day/Awards Ceremony session time slot. Teams not selected as finalists will be notified as well.

Mandatory Practice Sessions

The finalists will be required to attend practice sessions prior to the Presentation Day/Awards Ceremony (it is optional for your mentor to attend as well, but their attendance is encouraged). You will have the opportunity to edit and polish your presentation prior to the Presentation Day/Awards Ceremony.  It is highly encouraged for your entire team to attend the practice session as the feedback often proves to be critical for the success of your final presentation.

Unofficial transcripts DUE AT your mandatory practice session.  IMPORTANT:  You must bring an unofficial transcript for each team member to the mandatory practice session.  Do NOT email these transcripts!!

Your Presentation on Presentation Day

Based on practice session feedback, prepare a slide deck pitching your app.  Your slide deck is due to appcontest@unm.edu by November 19, 2025 at Noon.  Please use subject line: App Contest Presentation Submission – <Team or App Name>

Your total slide presentation should allow for 8 minutes of demo and 4 minutes for judge Q & A.  You will be timed and your presentation of your slides/screenshots or video cannot exceed 8 minutes. 

Allot 1-2 Minutes:

• Introduce your team briefly (name, institution, year, area of study)
• Introduce your app, its functionality, and problem space it addresses
• Describe your app's technology
• Please make sure the pace of your presentation is appropriate for an audience unfamiliar with your app. In other words, go slowly enough so that judges can evaluate all of the functionality you are demonstrating. We can help you with this if you ask!

Allot Remaining Time should be dedicated to your Pitch (bring the ‘wow’ factor that the judges will love!):

• NOTE: Narrate your slide presentation and feel free to use screen shots and/or pre-recorded videos that are embedded in your slide deck. Any questions, email appcontest@unm.edu.

We recommend you thoroughly practice your presentation with a faculty, mentor, colleagues, or family member(s) who can provide feedback.  This practice will help ensure a smooth and professional presentation that does not exceed the time.  Your presentation score will be added to your technical score and extra technical points to determine winners.

Winners

Winners will be announced during the Awards Ceremony following a brief Judge's deliberation after the last presentation.

Need Help

If you have questions or technical challenges. Please contact appcontest@unm.edu by email and your question can be answered, clarified or forwarded to a subject matter expert for follow up.