The MTI Committee has created technical awards for this tournament: two hardware awards and one software award. None of the standard FTC awards will be given.

Team interviews will be 10 minutes total.  A team’s prepared presentation should not last more than five minutes, the remaining five minutes are for a question and answer period. 

Rubrics are used as an aid for determining the top teams for the judged awards.   They are tools to organize and ease communication amongst the award judges.  The winners are not selected strictly by their rubric scores.  These rubrics are filled out by the initial Interview Judge Panels and will be emailed to the teams after the MTI.  Rubrics can be found below.

There will be NO review of Engineering Notebooks.

What we are asking teams to provide is a one page flyer (it can be printed on the front and back) that illustrates why your design and robot should be considered for one or both of the MTI Hardware Awards. These focused, carefully thought out flyers will free up valuable time for our judges so they can learn more about your amazing robots first hand.  These should be uploaded to your team's VMT Award Documentation folder by midnight EDT on Monday June 15th.  Please name your flyer <Team Number> Robot Flyer. 

Here are a few examples for your reference:

• 2018 MTI Flyer from Green Machine Reloaded FTC 4318

• 2018 Robot Flyer from Killer Bees Robotics FRC 33

Maryland Tech Invitational 2020 Judged Awards

Software Innovation and Quality Award (NEWLY DESIGNED for 2020) - The goal of this award is to recognize teams that demonstrate both innovative application of software in this year’s FIRST Tech Challenge game and strong software engineering techniques.  The winning team will receive a grant. Teams must submit documentation to be considered for this award.  For full details see the document below. Teams can find an editable version of this document in your V-MTI Award Documentation folder.  You need to upload your team's SIQ documentation to your team's V-MTI Award Documentation folder by midnight EDT on Monday June 15.  Please name the document <You Team Number> SIQ Award.

The MTI extends a big thank you to FTC Alum and Volunteer Joshua Driesman and FTC Alum,  FTC/FRC Mentor Jeremy  School for developing the MTI SIQ Award!

K.I.S.S. Award - This award will go to the team that has embraced and demonstrated the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Straightforward and Simple) philosophy when designing their robot. This award celebrates the accessibility and reliability of an elegant mechanical design. This award can be given to a team for their overall design or for a specific component on their robot. The winning team will receive a grant.  

Hardware Mastery Award - will go to the team that the judges deem to have the most innovative and robust hardware solution to this year’s challenge. The team that receives this award really impressed the judges with their engineering process, design and performance on the field. The top team will receive a grant.  

Below is the rubric for the Hardware Awards.

Robot Performance Observation at the V-MTI

At the Maryland Tech Invitational, part of the judging process uses robot performance,  in order to assist in deciding which teams win which awards. 

V-MTI Judges will use teams' Skills Test videos to verify robot performance.  If a team was unable to compete in the Skills Test, the judges will use the team's MTI application video to confirm robot capability. 

Judging Procedures for the V-MTI

Curious about the V-MTI judging process?  Check out the Judging Procedures for the V-MTI for more information.