Engineers Compete in 48-Hour Design Challenge

At the end of September, four teams of designers took part in a rapid-fire design challenge (called the Gift of Invention Challenge) that involved coming up with a “life changing” design or concept in just 48 hours. The challenge took place at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

Using DesignSpark Mechanical software provided by the sponsor, the four teams designed their invention using the free software, and then printed prototypes using a 3D printer. Some pre-built components were also available for use.

Team participants included engineers and designers from SpaceClaim, 3M, Arduino, Traceparts, Schneider Electric, RS Components (the company that makes DesignSpark), Dyson, and other companies.

The winning invention was a two bottle water filtration system from Team Tesla. The other inventions included: Carrot Top, a device for efficiently watering plants that helps minimize water waste; The Babbarator, a pedal-powered device for generating energy; and LockShox, a smart bike lock.

RS Components plans to make the open source 3D CAD files available for download on the DesignSpark website.

There was a live video feed during the event, which you can see parts of below.

Source: Channel 4