Products from Design Competitions?
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: Products from Design Competitions?
: Products from Design Competitions? -- seattle1	Post Reply	Top of thread	Engineering Forum

Posted by: seattle1 ® 04/05/2010, 18:18:22 Author Profile eMail author Edit

Thanks all for the great ideas; especially appreciate the detailed stuff like references to MS compression algorithm and Betty Crocker cookoffs! I will follow up on these leads, as well as other possibilities esp. in automotive sector. If anyone else has any anecdotal stuff on competition-driven inventions (incremental or transformative) please do add, I will keep checking this thread. Seattle1

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: Products from Design Competitions?
: Products from Design Competitions? -- seattle1	Post Reply	Top of thread	Engineering Forum

Posted by: Marky ® 04/01/2010, 10:21:56 Author Profile eMail author Edit

Hybrid or Electrics cars are the 21st centurys greatest design competition...also companies developing batteries for these cars. Kids are exposed to design competitions in high school thru A program founded by Segway Inventor Dean Kamen.

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: Products from Design Competitions?
: Products from Design Competitions? -- seattle1	Post Reply	Top of thread	Engineering Forum

Posted by: Kelly Bramble ® 03/31/2010, 15:55:24 Author Profile eMail author Edit

I can't imagine that many high visibility products or technologies are competitively procured via academic competitions. Virtually all products procured by the various USA agencies are proposed and bid on in a competitive industrial process. This process includes organizations capability, traceability, ISO 9000 certifications, demonstrated manufacturing capability and other requisites necessary to deliver the end item.

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: : Products from Design Competitions?
: : Products from Design Competitions? -- Kelly Bramble	Post Reply	Top of thread	Engineering Forum

Posted by: Pinkerton ® 03/31/2010, 17:20:27 Author Profile eMail author Edit

Not sure if this helps but in the early 90's Micro$oft ran a competition for the best file-data compression algorithm. I seem to recall the prize was $30K. I believe they used the resultant winner's algorithm on their installation disks and CDs for quite a few years. It was a long time back so don't quote me, but you might find something in that vein. Dave

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: : : Products from Design Competitions?
: : : Products from Design Competitions? -- Pinkerton	Post Reply	Top of thread	Engineering Forum

Posted by: RWOLFEJR ® 04/01/2010, 09:58:57 Author Profile eMail author Edit

NASCAR ... DRAG RACING... TRUCK & TRACTOR PULLING... ANY MOTOR SPORT YOU CAN THINK OF... !!! Runnin' shine... the first link of the automotive racing evolution chain. Then racing in less than formal conditions... Then professional racing of all sorts we see today. Many, many of the automotive improvements that we utilize today came from the need for speed. Safety improvements... fuel economy... more power ... all have been tweaked and influenced by all of the motor sports participants desire to be number one. I can almost smell the alcohol & nitrous burning just thinking about it... Watching a smoker crank up it's three or four turbos screaming out a plume of smoke hundred feet high, or feeling your entrails quiver when a funny car jumps off the lights is about as American as it gets in my book. Another competition that birthed huge technological advancements would be war. More efficient, effective, and accurate means of thumping your enemy and reducing personnel and asset losses... and civilian casualties. And does anybody else remember the commercials about the Betty Crocker bake off competitions? I'd suppose some new tricks with butter and flour came out of that? Always wanted to be a judge for something like that... been trying to get in as a judge for the pies and cookies and cakes and all at our local fair. One of these days maybe...

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