MyMachine wins 2009 European Design Management Award
22-10 -2009
The Design Management Europe Award is given to organisations that succesfully apply design management as a solution for strategic challenges. MyMachine received the award in the category Public and Non-for-Profit organisation. According to the jury MyMachine proofs that it is possible that the difficult design process can be made accessible and attractive for all ages. There were 110 candidates for this award.
On 22 October 2009 the MyMachine team received the award during the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. For the occasion MyMachine presented a poster that demonstrates the design management process that underpins MyMachine. The poster (English) can be downloaded here.
Indigo BrainMedia presents MyMachine
15-10 -2009
The Indigo BrainMedia team visited the WSA MyMachine booth in Monterrey Mexico and now show their talents and imagination in this beautiful impression (Spanish). Thank you Sofia Garza-Barba and team.
MyMachine 2009-2010 launched in Belgium
08-10 -2009
MyMachine lauched again in Belgium. Over 1,200 children and students from 50 schools will work together in 2009-2010 to realize over thirty new dream machines. In October 2009 32 teams of engineers and product designers visited as many primary schools and invited children aged 6-12 to become Leonardo da Vinci for one day. Hundreds of brilliant ideasof as many machines were drawed and painted. For an impression (Dutch spoken) see this movie:
MyMachine receives United Nations World Summit Award
MyMachine was presented by the WSA jury using following movie:
Want to see the inventions of the United Nations WSA delegates? Click here.
World Summit Award issues press release about MyMachine
25-08 -2009
The United Nations World Summit Award issued a press release about the MyMachine project. Click here for the WSA website.
News>Belgian Multimedia Product is Best in the World
August 04 2009 | Salzburg/Kortrijk
MyMachine attracts international attention for creating the world's best e-Content. The multimedia project 'MyMachine' has won the World Summit Award (WSA 09) with a unique concept by building bridges between different levels of education: primary, higher and secondary education. Children in primary schools produce ideas to create their own 'dream machine'. Students from higher education translate those ideas into workable designs. Finally, pupils from technical secondary schools use the online material in order to produce real prototypes of the machines. MyMachine is a joint project of the Intercommunale Leiedal (Intermunicipal body), the Community Foundation of West-Flanders, Howest University and Indie Group (web developers). For more information visit the homepage http://www.mymachine.be.
With this, 'MyMachine' has approximately outrun 20.000 other products and projects from 157 countries participating in the 4th edition of the WSA, the United Nations based contest for e-content and creativity in the Information Society.
The global contest on creativity generated content is taking place every two years as a follow-on activity to the UN World Summit on Information Society. This year 545 national finalists from the United Nations Member States were selected by 34 eminent e-Content experts in New Delhi.
The submitted projects were nominated in one of the eight WSA categories to receive global acknowledgement as the world's Best in e-Content. Australia, Austria, Canada and New Zealand dominate this years winners list.
'In contrast to mass TV and newspapers, the new media do not concentrate in one country or one region; we do not see a digital Hollywood or digital Fleet street. Rather, the most interesting e-Contents come from smaller markets, and there from smaller players. They appear to be much more in touch with users and their communities. Local content, not global, triumphs in terms of quality' concludes from the Jury proceedings Peter A. Bruck, WSA Chairman.
The WSA is a global not-for-profit activity promoting the most outstanding achievements as a flagship partnership initiative of the UN's Global Alliance for ICT and Development and in close collaboration with UNESCO, UNIDO, ISOC and a world wide network of partners.
WSA was started as an Austrian initiative in the framework of the United Nations World Summit on Information Society in 2003. Today, it is the world's leading contest for excellence and creativity and e-Content production and a global hub dedicated to closing the digital content divide and narrowing the content gap between different regions of the world. Key sponsors of the WSA include the global Internet Society and Indigo Brainmedia - the leading and most innovative digital magazine from Latin America, which won the WSA in the e-Entertainment category in 2007 and since then entered into a long term visionary as the main supporter and sponsor.
The WSA 09 Winners' Gala, WSA Winners Conference and Exhibition will take place in Monterrey, Mexico, September 2-5, 09 in collaboration with the UN GAID's Global Forum.
Launch of ‘MyMachine!
20-06 -2009
How does a Ghost Buster looks like? Is it true that there is a horse that mows the grass?
How can you make ice cream by playing soccer? How can you talk to animals using flowers?
How does the machine looks like that wakes you up in the morning and that gets you out of bed with a big smile on your face?
Now is the time. In September 450 children-inventors invented 450 Smart and Important Machines (SIMs) of which 23 were designed by students product design. Since January 2009 all technical schools (pupils aged 12-18 years) of the Kortrijk region worked hard to turn these concepts in real working dream machines. No toys or demos but really working machines. And now these are ready.
Exhibition. From 25-28 June MyMachine organises an exhibition "MyMachine - Small Dreams, Big Ideas". This exhibition is the closing event of the test phase of MyMachine in which more than 550 pupils and students of 17 different schools in the Kortrijk region participated.
Children first. As it should be - according to the MyMachine spirit - the children can visit the exhibition first. On Thursday 25 June 2009 we organise a MyMachine Day for all participating schools. On Saderday 28 and Sunday 29 June 2009 the exhibition is accessible for the general public and this from 11.00 to 18.00 hours. Entrance of course is free.
Book. At the exhibition the 2008-2009 MyMachine Boek can be purchased with a presentation of all 23 Smart and Important Machines as well as a selection of some of the drawings made by the children. You will not believe your eyes.
Details. The exhibition is organised from 25-28 June 2009 in the NMBS Hangars, Magdalenastraat, 8500 Kortrijk.
Click here for a map.
The exhibition forms part of the Week of the Design. A perfect opportunity to see the ideas of Flemish product designers. See you there!
Launch of ‘MyMachine!
19-06 -2009
MyMachine wins World Summit Award 2009
29-04 -2009
MyMachine has won the World Summit Award for 2009 - the first Belgian project to ever do so. This prestigious award is presented by the United Nations and is a stepping stone to bridging the digital gap, by singling out and promoting creative projects and innovative applications from across the world.
Thanks in part to our attractive website developed by Indiegroup, the MyMachine project was awarded the prize by the WSA Grand Jury 2009 because it provided an outstanding example of creativity and innovative e content.
From 2 to 5 September 2009, the initiators of MyMachine (Leiedal (the Kortrijk region intermunicipal company), the Community Foundation West Flanders and Howest (University College West Flanders)), together with Indiegroup, have been invited to present the project in Mexico and receive their award in front of a large audience of international leaders, creative individuals, entrepreneurs and prominent figures from the ICT sector.
But this prize is also the work of the partners and the participating schools, whom we would like to explicitly thank here once again!
West Flanders technical schools build 23 machines invented by children
21-12 -2008
In January 2009, eight technical schools from the Kortrijk district will start work on building 23 machines invented by children.
1. A machine which helps you to build sandcastles.
2. A machine with which you can float.
3. A machine which helps you to get out of bed in a good mood.
4. A machine with which you can play in a different way each week.
5. A machine which helps to filter polluted air.
6. A machine which sets recycling to music.
7. A machine with which you can sort the waste while playing.
8. An automatic clotheshorse.
9. A machine which allows people to communicate with animals.
10. A machine which allows children to combine food in an original way, so that it still tastes good.
11. An object that makes you play and not just stand in silence on the sidelines.
12. A machine which wakes up everyone in a pleasant way.
13. A machine which helps children get out of bed on time.
14. A machine which playfully dries off children after they leave the swimming pool.
15. A machine with which children can create an ice cream to their own taste without using an ice-cream maker.
16. A machine which lets children alter their own clothes so that mums still approve.
17. A machine which looks like a real horse.
18. A machine which lets you play safely on the street.
19. A machine which helps to tidy up your room.
20. A machine to scare away the spooks from underneath your bed.
21. A French-fries canon.
22. A machine to decorate your T-shirt.
23. A machine to help you blissfully fall asleep at night.
Nervous students present 23 designs to 400 discerning children
19-12 -2008
On 18 December 2008, students of the Howest university college in Kortrijk presented the designs of 23 dream machines invented by children. The students drew their inspiration from 450 drawings of dream machines made by 450 children in September and October. In the last few weeks, the university college students translated the 23 sketches into workable designs. Examples of this are a machine to make ice creams, but in a special way. Or a sandcastle builder, an anti-spook machine, a wake-me-up bed, a French-fries canon, a tailoring machine, a hand-washing machine, a T-shirt printing machine and an ecological robot (the more you clean up, the happier the robot is).
The children could approve or reject the designs and for this, each of them was given three ‘MyMachine OK’ stickers. The counting of the votes was done by the Mysterious MyMachine Voting Machine. For a reason that has not yet been explained, all designs got an equal number of votes so that all the designs went through to the next round. Much to the relief of the students...
At the end of December 2008, the technical drawings of the 23 designs were handed over to the technical schools from the Kortrijk region. They will be actually built there from January 2009. In May 2009, a large fair will be organised for the children, pupils, students and their parents, the participating companies and all those who appreciate creativity.
Also present were Radio MyMachine and Teevee MyMachine. An audiovisual report of this will be available here soon.
The first machines�
29-10 -2008
Lots of inventing going on here! Over 500 machines were invented in September and October 2008 by more than 500 pupils. This photomontage shows you a few of these machines: from the tickle-waker to non-slip studs, from the talking-to-dolphins machine to the after-swim drying cabin. More machines can be viewed in the Show Room;
MyMachine in the press
24-10 -2008 The launch of MyMachine on 22 October 2008 did not go unnoticed by the press.
The Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuwspublished a very interesting article with a selection of 25 children’s machines and a few pictures. MyMachine was also presented on Radio Donna.
Another Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad published an article with a picture of happy children (and adults). The regional television channel WTV showed children from the Harelbeke Centre Municipal Primary School who had invented new machines. The Krant van West-Vlaanderen newspaper mentioned MyMachine on the front page and presented the project in a detailed article. The editorial was also dedicated to the project.
Kids invent machines: fun-filled pictures from the classrooms
24-10 -2008
Lots of inventing going on here! September to November 2008 have seen over 500 children from 7 primary schools together with 60 students of industrial design come up with ideas for hundreds of machines. The following photomontage shows some pictures of those fun-filled moments.
Launch of MyMachine!
20-10 -2008 MyMachine revealed!
We present the project to the press in the Harelbeke Centre Municipal Primary School. This means that everyone gets to know about it.
The schools participating in the pilot project (2008-2009) and the project initiators and all the partners introduce themselves. Naturally, most of the attention goes to the children who talk about their own ‘machine’ which they have invented. So we learn why the world urgently needs a chocolate-smearing machine, a treasure-hunting machine, a machine for making rainbows, etc.
