This year will be the 8th year that we have run this popular competition (although in 2020 our focus was on our “popup” competition, which we devised at short notice due to the pandemic).
Previous winners include a tech T-shirt with a built-in heart sensor, an ‘altruistic watch’, flashing toy boxes (to encourage young children to be tidy), a Swiss Army makeup kit, a way of opening public toilet doors without touching the handle, and a sophisticated corrective writing device for disabled people.
This year the competition, which we now run together with Canterbury Christ Church University, is supported by The Brett Group, The Kentish Gazette, Canterbury Christ Church University and James Clague Architects. As before, there’s a cash prize for the winner and two runners up:
- 1st prize: £300
- 2nd prize: £100
- 3rd prize: £50
All other presenters speaking at the final receive a consolatory prize of a book token; all finalists receive a certificate of participation.
This year, in addition, the winner of the Chowdhury Family Prize for Global Health will receive £50.
The deadline for entries is 31 March 2021. Final judging will take place in June 2021. We anticipate that this formal judging will take before an audience but this is subject to Government guidelines. In the case of formal judging before an audience, all entrants will be invited to attend and the judges will invite entrants from a shortlist to make oral presentations.
Rotarian Brian Dobinson, who has overseen the competition over the years says: “It’s wonderful to be able to run this competition again and to give youngsters something to strive for. The last few months have been a struggle for many, and we hope this will be a positive activity for all involved. As ever, we are grateful to our sponsors and to participating schools. We really encourage youngsters from ANY of the local secondary schools* to take part, even if their school has not taken part in the past.”
*For further information and details of eligibility, other rules, and this year’s poster, please visit this page.
Picture: part of the 2021 poster for the Innovation Competition. Picture credit: Rotary Club of Canterbury.
