2010 James Dyson Award Competition US Winner
The US National Winner has been announced in the 2010 James Dyson Award competition: Christine Outram and a team of MIT students invented of the Copenhagen Wheel, a wheel that turns a regular bike into a smart, electric hybrid. This tech-wheel allows riders to capture the energy dissipated when breaking and cycling and save it for when they need a boost. Like most cutting-edge technology, the Copenhagen Wheel is controlled through a rider’s smart phone.
Next month, the international finalists will be announced and a panel of esteemed judges will review the remaining entries. James Dyson himself will select and announce the global winner on October 5, 2010. The award is his call to action to motivate and educate students about design engineering.
Check out the rest of the US finalists (selected out of over 500 entries):
SeaKettle life raft that desalinates sea water (Editor’s note: this is awesome!)
Empower By Me refillable HIV/AIDS medical kit for use in developing countries
Travel Pack bicycle travel case
Public Bicycle Security System
Kee to Safer Driving in-car stereo system requiring drivers to dock cell phones before turning on their car
Parquinho play structure that incorporates activities for children with autism as well as those without disabilities
Purify medical sanitation station
Mantis portable dental chair and equipment dolly
Guardian advanced fire extinguisher
Which would you have chosen as the winner?
My vote is for the cell phone docking station.
Talking on your phone and driving is bad enough but add to that dangers of texting, emailing, surfing the web, playing video games, flipping through mp3 files, etc…
This is a rather brillant – yet simple idea that desrves recognition(though working it out with the thousands of phones avaialble may prove to be impossible).