The Friday Fillip

You’ve seen him: he’s the soft-voiced Englishman who pushes a vacuum cleaner around on TV. He’s also a very wealthy man, thanks to that vacuum cleaner and his other inventions (you may have used his Air Blade, a truly tornadic hand dryer). He’s James Dyson, of course. And his foundation offers an annual £10,000 prize to the student or group of students who invent the best “something that solves a problem.”

In four days time, the foundation will pick the 2010 winner from the 15 semi-finalists. Have a look and place your bets.

It’s hard to choose. There’s the really handy Wanderest, for example, a simple seat for the old that can be attached to handy lamp posts, hydro poles and the like:

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And then there’s the life-saving (and wonderfully named) SeaKettle, “a life raft with an incorporated desalination process”:

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Or my own favourite, the Copenhagen Wheel, from a gang at MIT:

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… it transforms existing bicycles quickly into hybrid electric-bikes with regeneration and real-time sensing capabilities. Its sleek red hub not only contains a motor, batteries and an internal gear system – helping cyclists overcome hilly terrains and long distances – but also includes environmental and location sensors that provide data for cycling-related mobile applications.

(Nice boots, by the way.)

The whole thing is a lot more fun than vacuum cleaners. So put on your English accent and survey the field of competitors. Then check back with the Dyson site on the 5^th to see what the judges thought.