£20k prize on offer for sustainable product designers under Hackathon Challenge

‘The Hackathon Challenge’ is being backed by Telford-based Protolabs and is one of the main events of the ‘InspirON’ series of best practice talks and virtual seminars currently under way.

It will give participants the opportunity to take what they have learned from global experts involved in the talks and use it to create a hand tool with life-cycle analysis (LCA) and sustainability in mind.

Entries, which can be made until July 31, will be assessed by a panel of experts on their manufacturability and environmental impact.

Judges from Protolabs, Wevolver, IET and a number of speakers will also look at the potential market impact of the new hand tool and whether it responds to a current need and how sustainability improvements will be achieved.

Bjoern Klaas, vice president and managing director of Protolabs, Europe, said: “The Hackathon Challenge is another way of making innovation and product development a reality, with winners being able to secure up to £20,000 in digital manufacturing services to bring their ideas to life.

“InspirON is delivering so much knowledge and expertise to hundreds of designers across Europe that we wanted to make sure it could be absorbed in a practical way that could also deliver new sustainable solutions to everyday issues.

“It will be really interesting to see how the different talks have impacted on participants and which areas of learning have resonated with how they see product design and development going forward.

“If, as a society, we are going to hit our carbon reduction targets then designers have a massive role to play in creating more sustainable solutions.”

“All participants of the Hackathon Challenge will have access to the Protolabs design analysis and manufacturability software and our manufacturing capabilities in prototyping and low volume production will be available to the winner or winners.”

Running alongside the competition will be the ‘Sustainable Innovator Challenge’ and this will ask participants to demonstrate what they have learned from the InspirON sustainability series over the longer term.

Individuals will be asked what they can demonstrate as being a more sustainable product as a result of watching the talks, how they have reduced their carbon footprint, achieved end-of-life improvements or made a greater impact on the market as a result of storytelling methodologies.

Bjoern added: “The advantage of submitting for the ‘Sustainable Innovator Challenge’ is the potential to gain recognition for the work you do towards creating a more sustainable product, or a more sustainable process in your operations.

“It provides a fantastic opportunity to further help market your product, as well as providing a platform to enhance your reputation within the design community.”

Experts taking part in the series include sustainability and life-cycle analysis expert Dr Simon Lockrey, author and plastics expert Dr Vannessa Goodship and circular economy director at IDEO Chris Grantham,

For further information and how to enter, join the ‘Hackathon Challenge’ talk on Thursday at 12pm. People can register at www.inspiron.hubilo.com.