Invention Contest Seeks Creative Ideas

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention.

And if making money is a necessity, then this is the contest for you.

It’s a competition to find the world’s best invention and it’s meant to give engineering students a chance to strut their stuff and impress the experts with their creativity.

Experts like James Dyson himself. He made his fortune as an inventor after discovering a problem he thought hadn’t been solved.

It turns out Dyson hated changing the vacuum cleaner bags on his home sweeper. And he was upset that it didn’t pick up everything. So he set out to create one that didn’t need a bag and really – you should pardon the expression – sucked.

“I was constantly fed up with not being able to pick things up properly,” he recalls. “There was no suction left on the vacuum cleaner.”

So he went to his workshop and came up with the successful Dyson vacuum cleaner, which uses cyclone technology and has no bag to change.

It helped the English-born entrepreneur make his fortune. And now he’s hoping to pay it forward.

He welcomes entrants from those who think they have a better mousetrap – even if they’re not trying to catch a mouse.

Among the items created for his contest:

The Hand Iron (top left)

It’s an iron made in the shape of a hand that makes it far easier to press your clothes.

The Hanging Scale

It’s small, portable and hangs up on a wall. But as the name implies, it can carry a lot of weight when you put it on the floor.

The Revolver Tool

Made for craftsmen who are tired of having to switch tools and bits. The pistol shaped machine comes with a clever cartridge that contains all the drill bits and screwdriver heads you’ll ever need. Just click the cylinder and the one you want falls into place.

The Yourban Garden

This invention allows people living in the city without much room to grow plants in very little space and with very little water.

The White Cane

This handy item is intended for people who are visually impaired. Instead of just being the usual white walking stick for the blind, it comes with built in censors that send feedback to the carrier to give them more information about his or her surroundings.

Most of the above were created by engineering students in foreign lands. Now Dyson is giving Canadians a chance to show their creativity here.

“We hope all entrants will become creative and great engineers and change the way we live,” Dyson proclaims. “And the way we use things and improve.”

Because unlike Dyson, none of us live in a vacuum. Or even a vacuum cleaner.

To find out how to enter the contest, click here.