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The Skank Sponge Awards

Welcome to the first annual Seattle Robotics Society Skank Sponge Award. The Skank Sponge Award recognizes the hobbyist who has the foulest and most disgusting looking solder sponge.

For the uninitiated, a solder sponge is used to clean the tip of an electronic solder iron. It is usually wet, and ends up with the residue from paste flux, carbon, solder, and generally things you wouldn't want to eat. A typical solder sponge will, over time, become one of the single most disgusting items in your house.

This First Annual Award celebrates the worst of the worst. The winner will recieve the honor and glory of the Skank Sponge Award, and a BotBoard Plus prototype controller board.

The Judges

This years contest had three unbiased celebrity judges. Each judge added their own unique perspective to the contest.

	Steve Ciarcia is Editorial Director and Publisher of Circuit Cellar magazine. Steve has built an international reputation as a consultant, engineer, and author in a career spanning over twenty years. Millions of people around the world have followed Steve as he built advanced computers, designed impressive intelligence into the control of his home, explored speech synthesis and communications, and explained leading-edge technology through the use of practical, working projects. If you are a serious builder of robotic and microcontroller projects, Circuit Cellar is a must for your library.
	Judd Hardy is a physicist, outdoor adventurer, and engineer for Microsoft.
	Sue Adams is a software engineer, gardening fanatic, and most importantly my wife.

The Entries and Results

Here are this first years entries and Results. Thanks for all who participated, and keep your irons hot and sponges soggy for we will hold another contest soon.

	#1 Brian Rippe
	#2 Dave Adams
	#3 Dennis Clark WINNER! I would like to thank you and all your judges for awarding me this distinguished honor. I would like to thank my mother for sending me on the path towards enlightenment and sponge skanking. This particular sponge has been in the making for many years now, it would like to thank you all personally, but its all choked up right now. Thank you, thank you all!
	#4 Jack Wilker
	#5 Jeff Spencer
	#6 Kevin Ross
	#7 Larry Barello Second Place
	#8 Tom Light Third Place