Ethics Competition

The Student Ethics Competition is jointly sponsored by IEEE Region 5 and the IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee (EMCC).  It encourages the study and awareness of professional ethics.  Each team must analyze a hypothetical ethical case, prepare and deliver an analysis in a PowerPoint presentation (8-12 minutes), and defend their analysis and recommendations during a Q&A period (5 minute).  The analysis and recommendations must be based on the IEEE Code of Ethics.

Eligibility

The Student Ethics Competition invites the IEEE Student Branches and IEEE-HKN Chapters at universities throughout IEEE Region 5 to send a two-member undergraduate team to compete in the Ethics competition. The teams should submit their intent to compete form. Teams are selected from the submitted pool on a first come first served basis. Selected teams will be invited to register for the R5 conference and participate in the competition. Team substitutions are at the discretion of the competition chair. 

Only one team is allowed from each IEEE Student Branch or IEEE-HKN Chapter due to space limitations.

Rules and Guidelines

The Student Ethics Competition will conducted and judged according to the IEEE EMCC guidelines (PDF).  All teams will receive the same case and a copy of the IEEE Code of Ethics.  The schedule will be: 

  • Orientation – 9:00 am 
  • Preparation – 9:15 to 11:15 am (no outside resources allowed, computer provided) 
  • Lunch – after Team Preparation Period 
  • Presentations – 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm (Teams may observe other presentation after their presentation) 

The presentations will be open to conference attendees, but only judges may ask questions.  The decisions of the judges are final. 

Team and Student Registration

Each team MUST complete the online Intent to Compete form to declare their intention to participate. This is NOT the same as registering for the IEEE Region 5 conference. In addition to this each team must also register for the conference by February 14, 2025 to ensure their place to compete. The fee for registration is $150 for IEEE members and $250 otherwise.

Space is limited and the competition registration will close when the available space for ten (10) teams is filled, but no later than 12:00 am CDT on March 15, 2025. As of November 7, 2024, there is available space for 5 teams in the competition.

Intent to Compete

Awards

Winners will be awarded the following prize money

  • 1st Place – $500
  • 2nd Place – $250
  • 3rd Place – $150

A W-8 (foreign person) or W-9 (US person) withholding form is required by the IEEE Region 5 Treasurer prior to disbursement. The winners must also provide their current mailing address.

Contact

We use Discord as our primary means of communicating updates about individual competitions. Click on the button below to join the R5 Discord Server. Inside the server you can find channels for all the competitions, including the Ethics competition (#ethics-general). The competition chairs and volunteers are members of the channel, and will respond to any questions you might have.

We strongly recommend the participants to be part of the Discord server, as all the updates regarding individual competitions will be communicated via their corresponding channels (including during the day of the event).