AWFS® Presents
Design-it-Digital 2026
Student CAD Competition
From Screen to Shop Floor
Empowering the Next Generation
Summary
Design-it-Digital is an online student design competition owned and operated by the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers® (AWFS®). Students are presented with a hypothetical scenario in which a client is asking for a specific piece of wood furniture and/or case goods with certain constraints given. Students design their solution using CAD and rendering software. This contest introduces students to challenges that designers face when making real-world wood products. It also highlights the use of CAD software in the wood industry and provides an opportunity for companies to get involved with students and schools. AWFS®’s focus is to engage the next generation into thinking about the many career opportunities available in the wood industry.
Mission
Promote awareness of the wood industry to students currently pursuing careers in other industries.
Promote awareness of career jobs in the industry related to CAD, design, engineering, and more.
Support recruiting of new talent for the wood industry.
Foster interaction between industry members and education (students, teachers, and schools).
Sponsor
DESIGN-IT-DIGITAL 2026
Competitor Eligibility
Who
Open to middle/high school (grades 6-12) and post-secondary students from the United States and Canada. Middle School, High School, and Post-Secondary students are all judged separately.
No minimum age. Maximum age 35 years old as of December 31st, 2026.
School Program
Full-time, degree, diploma, or certificate-seeking students. Must be enrolled in an accredited middle school, high school, or post-secondary program focused on:
Woodworking, architecture, design, engineering, or related area.
Part-time, degree or certificate-seeking students in an accredited post-secondary program. Students must be transitioning into a related career/field:
Woodworking, architecture, design, engineering, or similar area.
Students must have support of an instructor at their school to enter.
Misc
Those that make their living (or substantial income) in a related career path are not eligible.
Schools must register online before students may submit their entries.
All submissions must be in English.
Students and teachers must sign a release form and submit to verify the entry is the student’s work.
Entry Requirements
No entry fee.
No limit of entries per school.
Students may use ANY available 2D or 3D drafting and rendering software, AutoCAD, Rhino, Sketch Up, etc… Students must disclose what software is used.
Students can only submit one entry per task.
Entries must be solely designed by the student within the competition timeline and not part of a group project or plagiarized from another designer.
Design must incorporate at least 67% wood products that are readily available and must be producible in a standard wood shop (including a CNC router).
Students must submit all online questions and Design Presentation Board to ArtCall. No physical entries are accepted.
Questions on the following (see below):
Bill of Materials
Labor Time Estimate
Pricing
Design Presentation Board (24” x 36” pdf). See example below. Include the following:
Project title
Price range
Renderings/Digital Images
Plan view (CAD-generated)
Front Elevation (CAD-generated)
Side Elevation(s) (1 or 2, CAD-generated)
Section Drawing(s) (1 or 2, CAD-generated)
Detail Drawing(s) (1 or 2, CAD-generated)
Description of project (up to 250 words)
Judging
Judging will be entirely online by a panel of wood industry professionals.
All entries will be scored based on the following criteria:
Scoring Scale
All criteria are scored with the same scale:
Industry Leader (Distinguished) - 4 pts
Professional (Advanced) - 3 pts
Apprentice (Developing) - 2 pts
Novice (Attempted) - 1pt
Not submitted - 0 pts
Scoring Criteria
Total possible score = 32 pts
CAD Drawings
CAD designs should be computer-drawn with industry-appropriate software. Diagrams, labeling, and other CAD features should be appropriate for common wood industry drafting (see ‘Sample Wood Industry CAD Drawing’ below).
2D/3D Renderings
Realistic 2D or 3D images should be produced to visually show what the finished product will look like. This rendering should be to scale and represent the materials specified in the design.
Manufacturability
Design should be producible with equipment typically found in a professional woodworking shop. Design should use recognized woodworking techniques for production.
Client Definition
Client for your project is well-defined and the product fits their needs.
Design & Innovativeness
The design goes above and beyond basic functionality to demonstrate style and innovation that would appeal to the client and a general audience of expert woodworkers.
Efficiency
The design’s materials, cost, time, and labor should be minimized without compromising functionality or other constraints.
Functionality
The design must function appropriately for the task and constraints given.
Online Questions
The Bill of Materials, Labor Estimate, and Cost Calculation make sense with the project design.
Prizes
MiddleSchool | HighSchool | Post-Secondary | |
1st Place | $400 | $600 | $1000 |
2nd Place | $200 | $500 | $800 |
3rd Place | $100 | $300 | $500 |
AI Bonus (Optional)
A bonus prize of $100 is awarded to the entry that most innovatively uses AI in the student’s design process or submission creation.
Display
All winners will have their Design Presentation Board professionally printed and displayed at the Fresh Wood Booth at the 2027 AWFS®Fair, July 13-15, 2027 in Las Vegas, NV.
Design Challenge A -
Coffee Table
Middle School ONLY
Competitors should design a coffee table for placement next to a living room sofa. The coffee table must be able to store a standard size Scrabble set along with 3 or 4 other board games. Provide all dimensions of the coffee table, specify the environment it is in, and define the customer this coffee table is for.
Design Challenge B -
Dining Table
High School
(Middle School OPTIONAL)
Competitors should design a dining table to fit 6 adults. Specify the environment the table will be in and define the customer this dining table is for. Provide a specification sheet for the type of chairs that would go with the table based on customer preference. Provide all dimensions of the dining table, spec sheet for any hardware used, and specify the environment the table will go in.
Design Challenge C -
Expandable Dining Table
Post-Secondary
(High School OPTIONAL)
Competitors should design a dining table that is configured to seat 6 adults and then can be expanded/modified to seat 10 adults. Specify the environment the table will be in and define the customer this dining table is for. Provide a specification sheet for the type of chairs that would go with the table based on customer preference. Provide all dimensions of the dining table, spec sheet for any hardware used, and specify the environment the table will go in.
Entry Submission
All parts of the entry submission are done online through ArtCall. The submission is made up of several questions to be answered and a Digital Presentation Board that can be printed with high quality for display at the AWFS®Fair/IWF.
Online Questions
See detailed information in the "Downloadable Rulebook w/ Student Release Form".
Bill of Materials
Labor Time Estimate
Pricing Structure
Digital Presentation Board
The Presentation Board will be a 24” x 36” PDF that is uploaded to the ArtCall website after the Online Questions are completed.
See detailed information and examples in the "Downloadable Rulebook w/ Student Release Form".
