Editing Openai/6944461c-7f90-8000-8c32-54fe2958dd9a (section)

=== ## ===

===== ## =====

This manual exists for one reason only:

: 

Judges are not here to encourage innovation.
They are here to protect the problem definition.

==== Pressure must be the dominant causal driver of hydrogen separation. ====

Not:
* A precondition
* A packaging convenience
* A stressor added on top of electricity

If pressure disappears and the system still functions at comparable output, the system fails by definition.

==== Drift typically enters through: ====
* Well-meaning “hybrid allowances”
* Incremental rule reinterpretation
* Sympathy for impressive but misaligned teams
* Sponsor pressure to showcase familiar tech

Drift is cumulative and usually polite.

Judges must treat drift as systemic risk, not bad faith.

==== Judges must agree, in writing, to the following doctrines before assignment: ====
# Performance without pressure is disqualifying
# Efficiency claims must survive attribution tests
# Durability outranks peak output
# Maintainability outranks elegance
# Lifecycle compliance outranks novelty

These doctrines override all secondary scoring rubrics.

==== ### ====

Each finalist system must undergo a Pressure Attribution Test (PAT) in which:
* Hydrostatic or applied pressure is incrementally reduced
* Electrical and chemical inputs are held constant
* Hydrogen output is continuously measured

Judging Rule:

: 

Judges are to look for nonlinear collapse, not graceful degradation.

Graceful degradation is suspicious.

==== Allowed hybridization does not mean tolerated electrolysis. ====

Judges must flag systems where:
* Membranes only function after electrochemical “activation”
* Pressure merely improves efficiency rather than enabling function
* Electrical input exceeds attribution caps during steady-state operation

Rule of Thumb:

If the system narrative can be rebranded as “efficient electrolysis,” it is not pressure-driven.

==== Judges must actively penalize: ====
* Brittle ceramics without demonstrated pressure cycling survival
* Exotic materials without supply-chain realism
* Lab-only membranes without fouling exposure

Minimum expectation:
* Multi-month operation
* Pressure cycling
* Biofouling and mineral scaling exposure
* Seal aging evidence

Shiny membranes that crack quietly are not breakthroughs.

==== For submerged systems, judges must verify: ====
* Retrieval feasibility without system destruction
* Modular repair pathways
* Failure-safe depressurization behavior
* No dependency on permanent human presence

If maintenance requires heroic intervention, the system is immature.

==== Judges must test for: ====
* Fault detection under partial sensor failure
* Safe degradation modes
* Autonomous recovery without external commands

A system that requires continuous human babysitting is not infrastructure.

==== Judges must ensure teams do not externalize costs to: ====
* Fragile aquatic systems
* Local water tables
* Cultural or indigenous sites

Mitigation plans must be:
* Specific
* Testable
* Enforceable

Vague stewardship language is insufficient.

==== Judges must not: ====
* “Balance” weak attribution with strong output
* Reward clever accounting of energy inputs
* Accept future promises in place of present performance
* Create informal exceptions for “strategic” teams

The prize rewards what exists, not what is forecasted.

==== If external pressure arises to: ====
* Highlight a popular team
* Relax a requirement
* Reinterpret attribution thresholds

Judges are instructed to respond with:

: 

No further justification is required.

==== Judges are expected to be: ====
* Technically rigorous
* Politically indifferent
* Personally unimpressed

Enthusiasm is not a qualification.
Skepticism is.

==== If, at the end of the competition, the winning system could plausibly be deployed without pressure as its primary driver, then the judging panel has failed. ====

This manual exists to prevent that outcome.

==== This competition is not about hydrogen. ====

It is about whether incentive prizes can still defend a problem statement in an era of narrative capture.

Hold the line.

Pressure does not negotiate.