CIDCI and Shadow Ventures invite individuals and teams from universities to present research outcomes to a “wicked problem” within the AEC industry. Submissions from any research team, from any university in the world, will be considered.

Shadow Ventures and CIDCI will award $5000 in prize money for submissions following the presentations at the Shadow Summit.  Subject to the decision of the jury, this prize pool may be divided among submissions or awarded to a single entry.

The AEC industry embraces technology and innovation at all stages of construction projects: design, construction, and facility operations. “Out of the box” thinking, to tackle industry challenges is also expanding as industrial construction.  Industrialized Construction has been defined as advancing the construction process by employing mechanization and automation. Within the next decade, many believe that the majority of buildings will be built employing industrialized construction techniques. 

This new way of building will, it is hypothesized, create better working conditions for those in the industry, lower prices to satisfy a shortage of affordable housing globally, and respond to environmental challenges including climate change.

There are several intents behind the promotion of industrialization of construction, such as increasing labor productivity, substituting labor-intensive processes with machines, fast-tracking the rate of construction, commissioning new projects more quickly, reducing costs, lean construction, incorporating augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), and improving overall quality.

CIDCI believes it is imperative that industry, academia, and government unite to help ensure architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) programs align to create a paradigm shift for the built environment.

CIDCI invites submissions by teams whose research outcomes are on the path to technology transfer or ready to be evaluated in a practical setting (e.g., a real construction site, company, or a project setting). outcomes that aim to improve architecture, engineering and construction and facility management Whether these research outcomes are directly implemented in industrial construction settings or not, you are welcome to join this challenge. Research and product development may include, but is not limited to: BIM, robotic solutions; digitalization and/or data integration; Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions; Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) solutions.

NOTE: The list above is not comprehensive and we encourage submissions that can, in any way, improve the AEC industry. Submissions with a "proof of concept" will have an advantage. We especially seek submissions with a working prototype or a submission on the path toward tech transfer.

• Submission teams must include one or more faculty advisors

• Submissions may be made by one or more students

• Submissions are limited to undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at an accredited college or university anywhere in the world

• All submissions are final

• Submissions will be evaluated only on the requested materials (do not send additional information)

• Decisions of the CIDCI Board of Directors are final

• There is no submission fee

​NOTE: Submissions must include the names of all participants on the entry form.

• PDF of a PowerPoint slide deck

• Separate PDF of at least one Student ID

• Presentations should be no longer than 10 minutes (students should time their presentation to not exceed this amount of time)

• You may include embedded video links in your presentation