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THE SEARCH
BEGINS FOR UK’S BRIGHTEST IDEAS IN FEMALE INVENTOR AWARDS
WOMEN in the North West have the chance to be recognised as
the British Female Inventor of the Year 2006 with the launch of the
latest competition by the Global Women Inventors & Innovators
Network (GWIIN).
The awards event organised to celebrate and promote the creative,
inventive and innovative products and inventions by women, this year
includes 3 new categories - an award for Product Development,
another for Exceptional Creative Items in crafts, health & beauty
and foods and finally one for Higher Education & Learning
Institutions such as universities and colleges. There are 10
categories in total including the main award Female Inventor of the
Year 2006.
Established 7 years ago, the awards are the most extensive platform
for the recognition of women’s inventive ideas developed in
scientific laboratories or at home in the humble garden shed.
Founder Bola Olabisi who has since launched the competition in other
countries, says that the UK event is moving from strength to
strength.
“The 2006 event will be the biggest so far, reflecting the
diversity of the innovations that we receive in the competition. We
welcome ideas from women of all backgrounds - scientists and
engineers working on patented inventions to women with no previous
research and development experience who have come up with an
excellent gadget. The only crucial criteria is that they have a
valid contribution to providing a better quality of life for
people,” says Bola.
Previous winners in the awards include Deborah Leary, the inventor
of Forensic Anti-Contamination Stepping Plates for crime scenes,
Mandy Haberman, the inventor of the Anywayup Cup to prevent toddlers
spilling their drinks and Dr Diana Hodgins with her nanotechnology
innovation, the small-scale Solid State Gyroscope which detects
angular spin in moving objects.
The theme of this year’s event is Empowerment Through Technology and
will include several high profile industry speakers from various
backgrounds. The closing date for awards entries is 27 January 2006.
For further information about the award categories and entry forms
visit
www.gwiin.com. |
Architect slates penny pinching developers
PENNY pinching developers will bring the North West housing
market into decline if they continue to churn out faceless little
boxes, according to James Randle from Lymm architectural practice
Randle White. White believes many developers are being
short-sighted in their eagerness to ride the new build boom in the
region.
"They could be realising far more money from developments if
they only spent a little more on the detail," says Randle.
"Developers often compromise quality in all sorts of little
ways in a bid to save money but scrimping is a false economy. It is
the little details that can make or break the overall success of a
development and get them bigger returns in the longer term."
He says the most common money-saving tricks are:-
1. Not installing stone sills and heads
2. Using plastic doors instead of timber
3. Installing white UPVC windows that
aren't sympathetic to the style of house
4. Using white gutters and downpipes
instead of black
5.
Not allowing for enough car parking and amenity spaces
6. Using cheap roofing materials
Randle believes the situation will get worse as the government
introduces more stringent energy efficiency criteria on new build
properties. "Costs will increase so developers will
compromise on quality even more."
Property developer Mark Evans from MDA agrees:- "We build a
lot of residential developments and generally stay loyal to the
designs presented by architects. But there are lots of developers
who are simply keen to build cheap and sell cheap. Unfortunately, as
long as there are ready buyers, nothing will change this."
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