Overview

Welcome to the Build My Lab Contest, hosted by Tekla Labs and Instructables! We're inviting submissions of DIY blueprints for building laboratory equipment for science and education. From hot plates to shakers, microscopes to spectrophotometers, we're looking for ways to turn inexpensive or repurposed parts into the building blocks of world class laboratories! See below for full contest guidelines and a list of all our prizes! We're looking forward to seeing your submissions!

Prizes

All submissions are eligible for over $5000 in prizes! A mini mill, oscilloscope, Dremel and Arduino kits and more are all up for grabs! Prizes are awarded based on performance in documentation, safety, performance detail, and novelty: check the Prizes tab and Official Rules for more info!

Judges' Prizes:
In addition to the prizes awarded based on the above criteria, we also will be giving away two special judges' prizes for the best submissions that also fulfill one of the criteria below. If you'd like to have your design considered for judges' prizes, make sure to use the tags BuildTheirLab or LabHacks in your submission!

1) Build Their Lab: Design an Instructable for building a piece of laboratory equipment that REAL scientists we have surveyed need for their research, and help them Build Their Lab!

2) Lab Hacks: Do you have simple solutions to common challenges around the lab? Did you 3D print a pipette holder for your bench? Help make life in lab easier and safer for everyone by submitting your own Lab Hacks!

Build Their Lab Details:

Tekla Labs has surveyed 20 labs in countries across Latin America and found that over 50% needed the following common laboratory equipment items: microscopes, media rotators, fluorometers, sterilization equipment, spectrophotometers, PCR machines, incubators, water baths, hot plate/magnetic stirrers, pH meters, electrophoresis chambers, sonicators, UV lamps, tissue culture hoods, centrifuges, chemical hoods and ELISA plate readers. Submitting designs for any one of these devices will make your design eligible for the Judges' Prize in this category! Check out the Tekla Labs website, and see how your designs can make a real impact for labs around the world!
 

Multiple entries are accepted, but each entrant can only win one prize. Contest is open to entries from US, Canada [excluding Quebec], UK, China, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia, Colombia, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, India, New Zealand, and Denmark. The Contest begins at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PT), September 2, 2013. Contest closes for entries at 11:59pm PT, December 16, 2013.

The winner(s) will be solely responsible for complying with any and all applicable statutes, laws (including, without limitation, common law, if applicable), rules and regulations and for bearing any personal income tax, VAT, withholding taxes, customs duties, or other taxes, fees, insurance, surcharges or other costs relating to receiving, claiming or collecting any prize.


Want to see more? Check out Instructables' upcoming contests here.

The Build My Lab Contest is closed.

Grand Prize

18 Prizes

Grand Prize (1)

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

Judges' Prize: Build Their Lab (1)

One Judges' Prize Build Their Lab winner will receive a RepRap Huxley 3D printer, a copy of "Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs" and an Instructables prize pack including a robot t-shirt.

Judges' Prize: Lab Hacks (1)

One Judges' Prize Lab Hacks winner will receive a RepRap Huxley 3D printer, a copy of "Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs" and an Instructables prize pack including a robot t-shirt.

First Prize (5)

Five First Prize winners will receive:

Second Prize (10)

Ten Second Prize winners will receive:
How It Works

Write an Instructable

Create a new Instructable that fits the guidelines outlined in the contest description above. To be eligible, Instructables must be published between Sep 2, 2013 and Dec 16, 2013 (11:59pm PT).

Enter

Upon publishing your Instructable you'll see checkboxes for open contests. Select Build My Lab Contest. If you have entries currently eligible for entry, it will also show up by clicking "Enter this Contest" on the right side of this page.

Accepting

Entries are accepted by Instructables staff within one business day Monday - Friday. What matters is the submission time, not acceptance time.

Judging

A panel of judges made up of Instructables staff and respected members of the community rate the finalists. The averages of the ratings determine the winners.

Winners

When the winners are decided they will be notified and announced here on the contest page.