The winners have been announced here!

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The laser cutter contest is back!

Learn how to enter here

Get your tools and camera ready, because Instructables is giving away a VersaLaser laser cutter package from Universal Laser worth over $15,000!

This is another chance for you to win one of our favorite tools, but this time it's bigger and better! The VersaLaser functions like a true plug and play computer peripheral. It has a friendly, materials-based print driver that eliminates complex power, speed and materials calculations. It's air-cooled, and is easy to install and use.

To win the VersaLaser, just make a fantastic Instructable to show us what you're capable of.

Your Instructable can be about anything, but we want to be amazed by your passion, imagination, and creativity. Make something fantastic and share your knowledge with the rest of the world. Remember, all projects of any type are eligible!

With a laser cutter you will be able to explore lots of cool new projects. You can custom-cut fabric, paper, wood, and other materials without having to touch a blade. You can cut pieces for a geometric lamp or an art project and customize your laptop. We're sure you can make something even cooler.

Inspiration:
Laser Cutter Contest Group
Science Fair Contest Details
Go Green Contest Details

We want to give the laser cutter to someone who will use it to take their creativity even further.

So get started on something that will blow us all away, and convince us you're the best person to win this awesome laser cutter!.

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Prizes

Grand prize (1)
40-watt VersaLaser VLS3.50 laser cutter, Instructables t-shirt, a laser-etched plaque, stickers and patches

First prize (13)
Laser-etched Instructables Leatherman Juice S2, a laser-etched plaque, and an Instructables t-shirt

Second prize (20)
Instructables t-shirt and a laser-etched plaque.

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Judging

When the contest closes for entries our panel of judges will select the top 10 Instructables via approval voting, and their creators will become finalists for the grand prize. Judges from Instructables, Universal Laser, and previous contest winners will be instructed to vote for contest entries they think deserve to be finalists. The 10 entries with the most votes will become finalists. In the case that a single author has more than one finalist entry, the lower ranked one(s) will be eliminated.

An additional 2 finalists will be selected based on total number of positive ratings. Of the contest entries not already selected by the judges, the two entries with the greatest number of positive ratings will become finalists. Negative ratings will have no impact on the rankings.

An additional 2 finalists will be selected based on total pageviews. Of the contest entries not already selected by the judges or selected via ratings, the two entries with the greatest number of pageviews will become finalists.

Bear in mind that the ratings and pageviews criteria tend to favor Instructables entered into the contest early as those entries have more time to accumulate ratings and pageviews.

You many enter as many times as you like, however, only individual Instructables will be considered to become finalists. If your project is too big for a single Instructable, feel free to create an over-arching Instructable that links to sub-Instructables.

The 14 finalists' projects will be posted on Instructables for everyone to see, comment, and vote on. The user votes on these 14 finalists will be 20% of the finalists' score, and will be added to the judging panel's results to determine the grand prize winner.

All contest entries will be judged for merit. Judges will evaluate each Instructable for the following:
- Creativity
- Completeness and clarity of instructions
- Usefulness
- List of parts and tools
- Effective use of photo notes
- Technical merit

Judging a large number of entries in a large number of categories will be a challenge, and will by its very nature be subjective and qualitative. The way to get noticed is to do the best job you can showing something you are passionate about. It can be something no one has ever done before, something that has been done over and over, but your Instructable is now the definitive guide, or something that simply amazes and inspires.

Judges from Instructables, Universal Laser, and past contest winners will evaluate the finalists by the above criteria, then vote for winners using range voting, the same system used in Olympic scoring. We'll announce the winners on or around Monday, 4 February 2008.

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How to Enter

1. Publish an awesome Instructable on any subject anytime between 15 October 12:01 am PST and Tuesday, 1 January 11:59 pm PST and add it to the Universal Laser Cutter Contest group. Only projects published within these dates are eligible. You may submit as many Instructables as you choose.

2. A panel of judges will select 14 finalists and 20 second-prize winners. These will be announced on or around January 7, 2007.

3. Each finalist's project will be highlighted on Instructables.com for a period of site-wide review, discussion, and voting. Any registered user is eligible to vote. Voting closes January 31st. The results of this peer voting will comprise 20% of each project's final score.

4. A panel of judges will assess the Instructables and cast their votes during the week of January 28th. The panel's votes will comprise 80% of each project's final score.

5. The winner will be announced on or around Monday, February 4th, 2008.

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Additional Information

You must be 18 or older to enter. If you are 13-17, you can still enter, but to win you will need to verify that you had the permission of a parent or guardian (we will have a permission slip for you). The best solution would be to have your parent join you as a collaborator on your Instructable.

International entries are accepted. If your instructable is amazing, we want you to have the laser cutter, no matter where you are. However, we can only cover shipping the laser cutter within the US- it's your responsibility to deal with shipping and customs from that point onward. We will confirm with the winner before awarding the grand prize. All of our other prizes can be shipped world-wide.

Groups are encouraged to enter the contest using our collaboration feature. A laser cutter would be a perfect addition to a community hobby shop.

Winner is responsible for all taxes and fees. We will remind the finalists of this to make sure they are able to properly deal with the taxes.