Recording Studio Challenge

Monday, October 17, 2.5 hours

Scoring: This challenge is worth 20% of the finalists’ overall score

PART 1: Innovation Center Tour [30 minutes]

Finalists will meet the Challenge Host, Jonté Lee, and Innovation Center Host, Andy Hennig at the 3M Innovation Center. Our hosts will welcome the finalists and introduce the 3M business model of applying science to life in order to solve problems through collaboration. Finalists will then learn about the World of Innovation and the Innovation Center host shares 2-3 stories about how 3M platforms connect to help solve real-world problems.

PART 2: 3M Platforms [30 minutes]

As the Innovation Center Host, Andy Hennig will guide students in learning about one platform all together. Each finalist will then dive in and learn about one additional platform.

Platforms:

Finalists will be assigned to one of the following five platforms where they will become “experts.” 3M Scientist Mentors with the support of Innovation Center Hosts will introduce and share important information about the technologies. Finalists will have 20 minutes to learn about their platforms and ask the scientists questions.

● Adhesives

● Films

● Microreplication

● Nonwoven materials

● Surface modifications

PART 3: Challenge [60 minutes]

Jonté Lee will direct finalists to their workstations in the lobby where they will meet their team. Each finalist platform ‘expert’ will be combined with two other finalists from a different platform. At their workstation, each team will find a description of their recording space challenge, along with the evaluation rubric.

Jonté will then instruct the finalists to use their knowledge of scientific principles, the information they learned visiting the anechoic chamber earlier that day, and what they learned about their three platforms to develop a design for a recording space that fulfills the constraints outlined at their work station. At the end of the 60 minutes, they will pitch their plan to the judges in order to prove that they are ready to go into production. They must include a description of their constraints, a labeled blueprint of their recording space design, and a small model that helps demonstrate at least a portion of their design concept.

Teams will be encouraged to brainstorm how to use their platforms to seek a solution to the problem that they have been assigned. For the first 25 minutes, finalists will be permitted to travel between their workstations and the World of Innovation to ask questions of the platform experts. All finalist teams will have bins containing the same materials and have access to samples of 3M technologies. Around the 30-minute mark, the Jonté Lee will have a 1-2 minutes check-in with each team. During this consultation, teams will be reminded to start work on their final presentation.

Challenge Description

Your school’s recording studio needs have increased in recent years, and you are being asked to help them expand their services to include portable recording options for students and staff. Meaning that your school can now offer the possibility of bringing your recording space onsite to wherever the musicians are located inside or outside of buildings on your school campuses. This will offer more possibilities and flexibility for your peer musicians, and may make recording music accessible to more people and more school events.

· Think of your school’s design while you are considering the new portable recording space.

· Consider the design to construction and implementation.

· The design should be able to be set up in less than half a day and accommodate the diverse student body and needs of your schools.

How can you use what you have learned today about sound and 3M’s technology platforms to create a portable recording space with the best possible sound that meets the needs of different activities, events and all the student artists on your school campus?

For the first 25 minutes of your work time, you will be permitted to travel between your workstation and the World of Innovation to ask questions of the platform experts.

After 60 minutes, you will pitch your solution to the judges using your blueprint to illustrate your plan. Be sure to clearly identify the problem you are solving, your approach, and your solution. You also need to create a model that represents at least a portion of your solution. As a reminder, the goal is to explain how you created a portable recording studio that is also flexible and accessible.

Your three-minute presentation will be followed by three minutes of Q&A from the judges. You will address the judges as a team. Make sure that all team members have an equal role in the three-minute presentation.

Twists

When there are 25 minutes remaining, teams will select a twist. They will not know which of the following twists they have selected until they open the mystery box:

- Recording Type:

- Twist 1: You will be setting up the studio outside in the school parking lot. A group of musicians with various brass, string, and percussion instruments will be using it to record their first single. You must make sure that each of these instruments can be clearly heard.

- Weather:

- Twist 2: You will be setting up the studio outside in the school parking lot. The weather forecast predicts heavy rain.

- Foundation:

- Twist 3: You will be setting up the studio outside. The only terrain (or land) on which you can build the studio is over uneven pavement.

- Interior Set-up:

- Twist 4: You will be setting up the studio inside of a school. The musicians who will be using the studio are a soloist and their cello accompanist who needs to be seated.

- Building Constraints:

- Twist 5: You will be building the studio in a small room inside the school. The room is between the school cafeteria and the band room. Noises from these rooms must not interrupt the recordings.

The Challenge Presented to Finalists (Jonté Lee to verbally share)

WELCOME finalists! Recording studios are specialized facilities that allow individuals or groups record, produce, and mix music. Full recording studios are often found in large buildings with a tremendous amount of space for multiple bands, musicians, or orchestras. These studios are often too expensive and too far away for the young adults or students to access. Today your team will create an accessible and flexible solution to this problem by creating a portable recording studio for a school.

During the last hour, you and your team have become experts on different 3M technology platforms. Now, in line with the 3M approach to innovation, you will have 60 minutes to work collaboratively to create a portable recording studio for a school using what you have learned.

· You must consider the need for flexibility for various uses in school programs and events.

· Your design must not only be portable but must be accessible to accommodate a diverse student population and needs of the school.

· Your portable recording studio must utilize at least three of the 3M technology platforms you learned about.

PART 4: Presentations & Judging [30 minutes]

Each team will pitch their solution to the judges. Their goal is to prove that they have designed an accessible recording space that will meet the needs of the school and its students, while creating the best possible sound.

Three-minute presentations will be followed by three minutes of Q&A from the judges.

Team presentations must:

● Explain their challenge constraints, their design solutions, and the research/science behind their design ideas.

● Include a labeled blueprint that clearly illustrates the entirety of their portable design space, while highlighting the flexibility and accessibility of their design.

● Include a model that clearly represents a portion of their solution.

● Take no more than three minutes.

Challenge 1 Rubric can be found here.