13 November 2008 18:22 GMT / By Stuart Miles
Dyson has launched a new award aimed at finding great inventions.Aimed at students, the competition, called the James Dyson Award will be open in 21 countries and offer a prize of up to £10,000 to one lucky young inventor every year and a further £10,000 for the university that helps them.
"Young designers and engineers are brimming with creative ideas to change the world – it’s this ability to think differently that the James Dyson Award celebrates and encourages", says James Dyson on the awards website.
The aim to get young people and universities thinking about how we can improve our lives rather than just make pots of cash for the company behind the Dyson vacuum cleaner.
To get an experience of what is involved in designing the latest cutting edge gadget, Pocket-lint was asked to come up with a device that used air and was aimed at the elderly.
The result? "The elephant" a cane with a cone on the end that uses air to pick up socks so you don't have to bend over. Bonkers we know.
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