DSC Home of the Future Competition Seeks Great Ideas from All Ages

A Da Vinci Science Center (DSC) Year of Innovationcompetition made possible by GE Appliances seeks innovative ideas from people of all ages.

The Da Vinci Science Center’s Home of the Future competition asks people in the Center’s 14-county primary service area to describe things they would like to see in their homes come the year 2025. The award for the best idea will be a GE Café French Door refrigerator with hot water dispenser, an innovative next-generation appliance valued at $3,199. The award also includes free delivery and installation. Entrants must write a description of no more than 500 words about their idea and provide one or two illustrations. The competition’s central theme is the idea that any person of any age or background can have a revolutionary idea.

The Home of the Future competition opens as the Da Vinci Science Center prepares to become the world’s first science center to host the GE Appliances’ Home 2025 exhibition starting on Feb. 15, 2014. The Home 2025 exhibition features eight-foot-tall renderings created by GE Appliances engineers to predict how homes will operate differently in the not-too-distant future.

Ideas must be submitted by March 7, 2014, at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Competition details and an online entry form are available on the web at www.davincisciencecenter.org/future. Ideas will be judged by an esteemed panel of scientists, engineers, and designers. The winning entry will be announced on April 7, 2014. Selected entries will be displayed for Da Vinci Science Center visitors from April 5-13, 2014, the last days of the Home 2025 exhibition’s appearance. Additional awards will be furnished by Freshpet and the Da Vinci Science Center.

The GE Café French Door refrigerator’s state-of-the-art features include the hot water dispenser that allows the user to choose their own water temperature or use pre-programmed settings to simplify food and drink preparation, an odor filtration system, and an electronic temperature-controlled drawer with colored LED lights.

Innovations for the homes of 2025 predicted in the GE Appliances exhibition include machines that integrate various functions and eliminate the use of one-purpose appliances as homes andapartments get smaller; smart appliances that perform inventory management and automatically place online orders for delivery of fresh food and milk; and single laundry machines that wash, dry, fold, or compress laundry into pellet form; these machines would use “gray water” recycled from showers and baths to deal with potential water shortages.

The Da Vinci Science Center’s Year of Innovation, which continues through Sept. 2014, highlights careers in all scientific and technical fields and inspire tomorrow’s professionals to embrace the qualities that drive innovation – including creativity, collaboration, process skills, and problem-solving abilities. The Center is opening several new permanent throughout its Year of Innovation along with its presentation of monthly public programs and three traveling exhibit experiences.

Air Products is the Premier Sponsor of the Da Vinci Science Center’s Year of Innovation. Year of Innovation Public Programs are presented by Avantor Performance Materials. Additional Year of Innovation sponsors include ATAS International, Inc.; B. Braun; Thermo Fisher Scientific; Martin Guitar; and Follett Corporation.