Competition Description:
IEEE Spectrum, the magazine of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is sponsoring a contest to build the ideal engineering life form—using Spore’s Creature Creator.
What does the number of eyes, shape of body, or type of feet on a creature have to do with its ability to be a good engineer? That’s for you to figure out. Here’s how you enter:
Download either the free trial version or the full version of the Creature Creator. (You will not be penalized for using only the limited options of the trial version—we’re looking for creativity and originality above all.). Note the system requirements: the Macintosh version requires OS X 10.5.3 or higher, and the Windows version requires the latest version of DirectX.
Create your creature and take a picture of it when you’re finished.
Send an e-mail to
The magazine’s staff will judge the entries based on the following four criteria: originality, humor, believability (in an alternative universe, could this creature really make it as an engineer), and attention to detail.
Judges will subjectively assign a 1 to 10 score for each criterion and select a winner based on the scores.
The winner will receive one copy of the game Spore and a T-shirtthat features his or her winning creature.
Entries must be submitted no later than 31 August 2008.
If you have questions, contact Associate Editor Joshua J. Romero at