The ET Foundation and Bonnell Aluminum have opened the 2016 International Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition. The 2016 competition is divided into two classes: professional and student.

Professional designers, engineers, and manufacturers along with students studying design and engineering at universities, colleges, technical schools and high schools around the world are invited to participate. The ET Foundation will accept entries for the 2016 International Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition through March 7, 2016. Entry in the competition is free and judging will take place following the entry deadline. The Call for Entries, containing the details and entry forms, can be downloaded at www.ETFdesign.org.

The cash awards total $20,000, including a grand prize of $3,500, awarded to the best design across all categories and classes. The 2016 Design Competition will include a new student design category, the Bonnell Aluminum LED Lighting Design Challenge, which encourages students to think about aluminum extrusions as a holistic solution to a design problem.

“Many of the student designs in previous competitions were clever ideas but they lacked practicality,” says design competition judge David Asher, process optimization manager for Bonnell Aluminum. “With this new category we want to encourage students (and their instructors) to better understand the aluminum extrusion process and all of its advantages. Don’t design a part that is overly wide and will need to be manufactured on a 24-inch press. The reality is that there are very few presses that can handle that profile size, and the cost for extruding that part is simply not practical. Addressing issues such as this will impact the judging process. The winning design will really come down to whether or not the student has a good understanding of the aluminum extrusion process.”

Students currently enrolled in a college, university, or technical school, including graduate students, are eligible to enter the Student Design Competition. Entries from high school students also will be accepted.

Entries received in the Professional Class will be divided into four categories: structural/architectural, transportation, engineered products, and alternative energy. First-place cash prizes in the amount of $2,000 will be awarded to the best design in each category.