Virtual Sustainable Dog House Challenge

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 5th Annual Sustainable Dog House Challenge was changed to an online format to still give students the opportunity to collaborate and create stunning designs in a virtual space.

Why virtual?

The SDHC is going virtual because the department does not want to unnecessarily expose students to the COVID-19 virus while sourcing materials from around Austin and/or while building together in tight spaces with many people. In addition, collaborating on a physical model would prove difficult since some students have opted to remain at home for the semester since many classes provide a virtual option. Going virtual keeps the spirit of the SDHC alive while keeping students safe.

How will teams create their designs?

Students will still create teams amongst their peers and friends in the UT CAEE Department and work together to design a dog house using design software like SketchUp, Revit, or Rhino. Students will have the opportunity to learn the basics of these tools from professors and graduate students in the department which should help them get a jump-start on creating their dog house.

What will the event be like?

Keeping with the virtual theme, the event will be hosted online through the use of a platform called gather.town. This platform allows users to walk around a virtual space and interact with various objects and users. As your avatar approaches another person's, your audio and video are shared with the nearby user similar to any video-conferencing tool and, as you walk away, your audio and video fade. This platform will allow teams to create static images of their designs that people can interact with much like the physical event.

What is going to be different?

Other than designing a virtual dog house model and hosting the event on gather.town, some additional changes that must take place for a virtual SDHC include:

• Rules: Some rules have to be altered and some new rules must be included for the virtual format. For a complete list, check out this page.
• Dog House Criteria Changes: Some categories and sub-categories do not translate to an online format (most notably the water and load tests), but the virtual design does allow for the inclusion of new criteria. For the complete breakdown of the categories and what each means, head over to this page.
• Judging: Judges can now get copies of the teams' designs prior to the competition and teams will record videos that highlight their dog house rather than having to give an in-person, on-the-spot presentation. These changes should speed up the judging process and reduce some of the team's stress associated with the event. More on judging can be found here.