"Trash to Treasure" competition for kids

Imagine transforming materials from your recycling bin into the next big thing, and winning a $10,000 cash prize for your innovative design. Design Squad, PBS’s popular engineering and design competition show, and Intel have joined forces with By Kids For Kids (BKFK) to give kids the opportunity to do just that. Hosted by BKFK, a company dedicated to inspiring young innovators to create and share their ideas, the nationwide Trash to Treasure competition will launch at www.bkfk.com on April 1, 2008 (to coincide with the television series’ season two premiere on PBS) and will run through June 30, 2008. The grand prize-winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize provided by the Intel Foundation and a trip to the development lab at Continuum, an award-winning international design and innovation consultancy, to build a prototype of his or her Trash to Treasure design.

The Design Squad Trash to Treasure contest will challenge kids of all ages to take everyday discarded or recycled material and re-engineer it into functional products. The product can move things or people (Mobility), protect the environment (Environmental), or be something kids can play with inside or out (Play).

Some of the repurposed materials kids might use in their innovative designs are fabric, paper, plastic, small electronics, wheels, clamps, springs, batteries, hardware, wood, bike parts, string, rubberbands, cardboard, kitchen gadgets, etc.

“We are eager to see kids’ ideas and everyday items transformed into innovative and intriguing inventions. What a great way to inspire a fresh approach to recycling, not to mention a new crop of engineers and designers!” said Brenda Musilli, Worldwide Director of Intel Education and President of the Intel Foundation.

Reminiscing about his own childhood inventions, Design Squad host and twenty-something inventor and mechanical engineer Nate Ball adds, “What I created as a kid, from weekend home improvement projects with my parents to Lego masterpieces on our living room floor, shaped my interest in engineering and the design process. Invention is infectious. With the Trash to Treasure contest, we are hoping to inspire the next generation of innovators and engineers.”

“We are delighted to manage this competition on behalf of Design Squad and Intel,” commented Norman Goldstein, founder and CEO of By Kids For Kids Co. “In fact, our mission of making teens’ ideas a reality couldn’t be more aligned. We hope this contest inspires, motivates, and stimulates the innovative spirit within all young people.”