Can you design a life jacket that boaters will wear?

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know why boaters don’t like to wear life jackets. They can be hot and bulky. Some are too expensive. Or, at least that’s what some boaters say. So here’s your big chance: design a better life jacket that more folks will wear, and you could be $10,000 richer. The deadline for design entries with the 2015 Innovations in Life Jacket Design Competition is April 15. The competition’s sponsors, the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water and the Personal Floatation Device Manufacturers Association, are encouraging boaters, armchair inventors, design, engineering or high school students to submit their design soon to BoatUS.org/design.

Entries can be as simple as hand-drawn theoretical designs to working prototypes, and there are no rules regarding types of materials to be used or whether the design meets any current US standards.

The design contest entries will be judged based on four criteria: wearability, reliability, cost and innovation. “Wearability” relates to the level of comfort. “Reliability” will take into account the chances for potential failure, while “cost” will look at the affordability of the design. “Innovation” will take into account originality or the utilization of new technologies.

The best entries will be posted on the BoatUS Foundation website and Facebook page for voting by the public in June and those votes will assist a panel of experts who will ultimately pick the winner to be announced at the September 2015 International Boat Builders Exhibition and Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Additional cash prizes are offered for second and third place.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button