As a new semester begins at colleges and universities across the country, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and its Committee on Education (CoE) would like to remind interested individuals that the deadline for entries in its 2014 student paper competition is 5 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. All full- and part-time students currently enrolled at the associate, undergraduate, or graduate level at an academic institute of higher learning are eligible to enter the contest; students in all academic disciplines are welcome. The theme of the 2014 competition is How are standards and conformity assessment critical components in addressing emerging business challenges? Standardization plays a critical role in removing barriers to trade, enforcing free trade agreements, and expanding foreign markets for U.S. goods and services. It impacts more than 80% of global commodity trade - in 2012, an estimated 14 trillion dollars.
All submitted papers must be under 2,000 words in length and must be formatted in accordance with the submission criteria in the paper competition flyer, which is linked below. Submissions must use specific examples to demonstrate the role standards and conformance play in addressing emerging business challenges related to the student writer's particular discipline. In this context, the term business could mean company, organization, or educational institution. All papers should also include a critical reflection on the broader societal dimensions of standards and conformance.
All entries will be reviewed by top-level industry experts and the winning selections will be read by a large number of members of the standards community, including experts in government, industry, professional societies, and academic institutions, and will be published on ANSI.org, StandardsBoostBusiness.org, StandardsLearn.org, and potentially in other media outlets. Prizes will be given to first- and second-place winners; ANSI reserves the right to award no prizes based on the determination of the judges. Winning papers will be announced in late May or early June 2014.
To view the contest's full submission criteria, review the ANSI 2014 Student Paper Competition flyer. All entries must be sent via email to [email protected].
About the ANSI Committee on Education
The ANSI Committee on Education oversees all Institute initiatives related to standards and conformity assessment education and outreach, fulfills the objectives of the United States Standards Strategy (USSS), and responds to other issues that may be delegated by the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, or the National Policy Committee.