The 2014 Generation Kingspan (GenK) student design competition adds KINetic, the first social media platform created for the architectural design community, as part of its online voting criteria for selecting the top two social winners. GenK, sponsored by Kingspan Insulated Panels - North America, offers opportunities to win cash awards and publicity in top industry publications.

Participants receive awards based on their entry in one of two ways. The first will be a judged competition in which industry professionals evaluate and rank the submissions in the areas of creativity/innovation, proper use of panels, and function to select three juried winners. Second, the top two social winners will be chosen through online votes on the GenK website from November 10 – December 10, 2014 and from influence on their KINetic project cluster.

In each GenK design, architect students show how Kingspan KarrierPanel wall panels and KingZip roof panels can be integrated into the design of a mixed-use complex. GenK challenges students to propose high performance building envelope solutions utilizing the performance characteristics of insulated metal panels. Entrants submit their best, most innovative design for a facility and take into account location, climate, and culture.

To assist their design efforts, GenK participants now have a very valuable tool. KINetic by Kingspan is the premiere social media network made for architectural design professionals. Each student’s design process can be streamlined by working with other network users to maximize their project’s potential.With KINetic, design professionals connect through a powerful and functional platform that mixes crowdsourcing and collaboration capabilities with user generated content and sharing concepts found in conventional social media.

The KINetic “spheres” provide visual inspiration during a project's discovery phase and technical information during its design phase. Factors such as the number of comments, number of views, and other forms of user interaction are taken into account when tallying social votes. This user activity is represented by the visual growth and position of theKINeticspheres. The result is a visual representation of each sphere’s influence within the KINetic community, producing a totally new communication experience for design professionals.

To create a free KINetic account or take the KINetic tour, visit kingspanpanels.us/kinetic/login. For complete competition rules and guidelines, visit kingspanpanels.us/generationkingspan.

Read more about this newest social media here.