Design a Toy, Win a Workstation

If you could design your very own cubicle toy, what will you come up with? Give it some thought, because your idea might win you a Dell Precision workstation with professional AMD FirePro graphics (retail value estimated at more than $5,000).

As part of DE's Design Challenge, sponsored by Dell and AMD, we'd like to invite you to submit your ideas for cubicle toys. Marshmallow-shooting rocket launchers? Gumball-tossing catapults? Paperclip-throwing cyborgs? Voice-responsive critters? Anything goes.

Here's how it works.

In Phase I, you draw a quick sketch of your idea and upload it as an image (submit your ideas here). Scanned napkin sketches and paper sketches are fine. Of course, if you happen to have a nice rendering or a screen capture of a CAD model, by all means, use that instead. The point is, you don't need to spend a lot of time and effort (at least, not at this stage). We're just looking for quirky, playful, creative ideas. From those entries, DE editors and honorary judges will select the top three. Deadline for submitting ideas is Dec. 2, 2011.

In Phase II, the three finalists will be asked to submit their ideas as 3D models (in IGES, STEP, or another neutral format), along with a short essay (400-800 word) on the design challenges they encountered and how they solved them. Essays will be published online at DE's Virtual Desktop blog, followed by podcast interviews. DE editors, honorary judges, and the public will weigh in on each idea, along with suggestions on how to improve it.

In Phase III, DE editors and honorary judges will select the grand prize winner and announce it on January 11, 2012.

Obviously, as one of the people judging the contest, I'm automatically disqualified from entering. But I'm sharing with you what I think would make a great cubicle toy: A remote-controlled paperclip-dropping chopper.

My idea is to build the chopper with a chamber for loading paperclips. The bottom of the chopper will contain a hatch that can be released remotely. (See images in the post.)

Is it a practical way of transporting and delivering paperclips? Definitely not. But it would certainly be entertaining to fly that chopper over a coworker's cubicle (pick someone with a sense of humor), position it directly above his or her head, and unleash a torrent of paperclips.

Now, it's your turn. Come up with a cubicle toy that's guaranteed to inspire, amuse, amaze, or annoy your coworkers. Let us take a look at it. Your wicked engineering instinct could be your ticket to that Dell workstation.

I look forward to see your ideas -- soon! (For more on the contest and where to submit, go here.)