While other countries enjoy great contests that focus on creating 3D printed designs, in South Africa competitions of this type are rather thin on the ground.

With that in mind, we’re glad to see the arrival of the Design Competition 2016 hosted by RAPDASA. This may be the most enticing contests we’ve seen for a while as R200 000 worth of prizes are up for grabs along with free 3D prints for entrants.

RAPDASA (Rapid Product Development Association of South Africa) is a “non-profit organisation … attempting to inform all South Africans of … new technologies and the best part is that it is available to all of us,” according to organiser, judge and industrial design specialist Leslie Becker.

The focus of this contest is to design an ingenious or novel “miniature mechanical object (gadget)”, to make life easier, simpler, better or just more fun”.

With that open-ended criteria, there are five categories with a 3D printer as the prize for each. The categories are: engineering, household, industrial design & functional art, education and toys.

Participants can enter as many times as they wish in as many categories as they wish, but one design cannot be entered into more than one category.

If you want a breakdown of the prizes – which include 3D printers, vouchers offering discounts on printers, scanners and even as a trip to the RAPDASA conference – you can check out the details on RAPDASA’s website.

Now that we’ve covered what you could win, let’s talk about what you get just for entering. The first 100 people to enter the contest will have their design 3D printed for free.

At the time of writing 89 of these free prints are available. We’re sure that as soon as this gets more attention that number will drop drastically, so you better book your print quickly.

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