Win win win! Firstbuild – the microfactory partnership between General Electric (GE) and Local Motors – have teamed up with Stratasys’ MakerBot for a cool 3D printing design challenge. Stay chilled as you await to hear the prizes, which are enough to get you hot under the collar! The prizes really are a nice incentive to showcase your design ability. Or share the love, as your work will be used by many others. Perhaps invest it as a free lead-in to the other inventive creations that you have produced? Whatever your reasons – which may just include good-old fun – here’s a neat opportunity for a bit of creative 3D printing.
Firstbuild is ‘a new model for the appliance industry, engaging a community of industrial designers, scientists, engineers, makers and early adopters to address some of the toughest engineering challenges and innovations.’ The venture now brings you one of their first design challenges: inventing innovative peripherals for that household mainstay, the refridgerator.
The GE FirstBuild Thingiverse Icebox Challenge seeks pragmatic solutions that can be placed inside of a refrigerator. Ranging from solely 3D printed items to electromechanical thingy-ma-jigs, this is a competition with a broad pallette that proffers a chance for the maker to stretch their creative boundaries.
To get the ball rolling, FirstBuild’s engineers have designed a few inventive test prints such as a customizable 3D printed pizza box holder that adjusts to the size of the box and refrigerator shelves. Buy stuff. Customize it. It works with smartphones, so why not fridges? FirstBuild and MakerBot say that they are excited to see what innovative ideas the public comes up with.
To qualify, designs must be uploaded to Firstbuild.com between now and November 23, 2014, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Upload to Thingiverse too with an #IceboxChallenge tag for the promo prize part. November 27 – December 2 will see print testing, community voting and judging. On December 15 the coolest kids (well, designs) on the block will be declared. Okay. Let’s talk prizes:
The choice of a MakerBot Replicator or Replicator 2X 3D Printer greets Mrs. or Mr. Prizefirst. Promotional opportunities galore abound from the opportunity to have her or his creation featured on Thingiverse and in MakerBot Retail Stores. Second prize is a MakerBot Mini and a Thingiverse / MakerBot Retail display accolade. Three spools of MakerBot Filament and additions to your wardrobe in the form of T-shirts from Thingiverse and FirstBuild will greet the third prize winner, with the self-same opportunity for promotion and adoration at MakerBot Thingiverse & Retail.
Three cheers for refridgerators!
