Lesson 10

Spotlight Pages

Dedicate a page to something cool about your team and make it stand out.

Spotlight pages are where you go deep on one specific thing your team did that you're proud of. It could be a mechanism, an outreach event, a cool initiative, a design challenge you solved, or really anything that makes your team unique. These pages give judges a closer look at what sets you apart.

What's a Spotlight Page?

A single page dedicated to one topic that deserves extra attention. Instead of cramming it into another section, you give it room to breathe with photos, details, and context that really show off the work.

What You Can Spotlight

Pretty much anything your team is proud of. Here are some ideas:

A Mechanism Your intake, launcher, climb system, or any standout subsystem

An Outreach Event A workshop you ran, a demo day, mentoring younger teams

A Team Initiative Mentorship program, team training system, new member onboarding

A Design Challenge A hard problem you solved, multiple iterations, before/after

Software Feature Computer vision pipeline, custom path planning, dashboard tool

Something Unique Custom field element, 3D printing setup, team branding system

How to Lay Out a Spotlight Page

There's no single right way to do it, but here are a few proven formats:

Hero Photo + Story Lead with one big, high-quality photo at the top. Below it, write a short paragraph about what it is, why it matters, and what went into it. Keep the text tight.

Before & After Show two images side by side (or top/bottom) with captions. Great for design iterations, outreach growth, or mechanism revisions.

Photo Grid + Callouts Use 3-4 photos in a grid and add small labels or annotations. Works well for events where you want to show the scope of what happened.

Timeline Strip Show how something evolved over time with a few milestones. Good for mechanisms that went through multiple versions or events you ran more than once.

Stats + Visuals Lead with a few key numbers (hours spent, people reached, iterations tested) and back them up with photos and a brief explanation.

Example Layouts

Here are three common spotlight page formats you can adapt:

Mechanism Spotlight

3 Iterations

2.1s Cycle Time

40+ Hours

Hero Photo + Story

Design Evolution

V1 - Prototype

→

V3 - Final

Before & After

Outreach Event

120 Attendees

5 Stations

8hr Duration

Photo Grid + Stats

Writing Tips

Be Specific Don't say "we improved our intake." Say "we reduced jam rate from 40% to under 5% by adding a compliant roller."

Include Numbers Hours spent, people involved, versions tested, speed improvements. Numbers make your work feel real.

Show the Problem First Explain what wasn't working before you explain how you fixed it. This gives judges context and makes your solution more impressive.

Let Photos Do Work One great photo with a caption often says more than a paragraph. Don't over-explain things you can show visually.

Typical Length 1 page each

Keep each spotlight to one page. The goal is to go deeper on one thing, not to write an essay. If you have room in your portfolio, you can include multiple spotlight pages on different topics.

Pick What You're Proudest Of

Don't force a spotlight page for the sake of having one. Pick something your team genuinely cares about and let that energy come through. Judges can tell when a team is excited about their work.