Brooms have been around for a while—quite a while. So it came as a surprise to Canadore College student, James Rocks when he invented a simple, but effective replacement for the standard bristled broom.
“The problem I was having with the regular broom is whenever you try and sweep in a machine shop, wood shop, or anything like those, that have big coarse fibres, they always get stuck in the bristles,” he said. “I was getting tired of this and went out and built my own broom which, instead, just has stuff get caught in between and fall out when you lift the broom so you can keep sweeping.”
The Shop Broom, a broom with re-engineered bristles to eliminate irritating uncaptured debris within the shop environment may seem overly simple at first glance, but when Rocks demonstrated the effects of a standard broom in a shop setting, it went a long way in showing how the large bristles quickly become clogged and hardened into a useless mess, making cleaning in the shop nearly impossible.
“You get these stringers that get stuck and then the broom can’t sweep anything,” Rocks said. “Mine is more effective than everything else. So long as you’re on a hard, smooth surface, like any shop floor, tiled floor, or garage floor.”
Rocks is one of two Canadore student entrepreneurs in the running for a $15,000 prize to actualize their unique inventions.
Graduating welder-fitter student Branden Robert Liedtke from Palmer Rapids, Ont., and Rocks. A first-year welder-fitter student from King, Ont. are among the finalists for the William G. Davis Fund contest for their proposals. In the first round of submissions, Liedtke entered the ‘Universal Multiple Deck Trailer,’ a trailer design gives the user the options and benefits of owning multiple trailers by utilizing only one frame.
“It is incredible to see our students have the confidence to harness their creative thinking and take action on their ideas,” said Ryan Drouin, Manager of Employer Services at Canadore College. “We had more than 50 employers on-site at our trades campus last year, doing everything from delivering workshops, providing mentorship support and recruiting to vacancies. The strong linkages between programs and industry are encouraging new levels of entrepreneurialism in our students early-on.”
Personally, Rocks was amazed to have reached the top 10 of the competition, comparing his simple broom to more complicated projects proposed.
“I can’t believe it made it this far, I’m up against people who are bringing 3-D printed fingers and stuff and other great ideas and a lowly cleaning supply has actually made it this far,” he said. But the utility of his invention speaks louder, with countless students taking the prototype to the floor. “All of the machine students from last year have seen it and all the welders this year. Everybody in the machine class so far has been amazed at how it works. At the end of the day you have a shop to clean up and people used mine instead of the existing one.”
The contest’s first-place winner will receive $15,000 to help fund the project and the second-place entry will receive $5,000. If Liedtke and Rocks prove to be the successful proponents, Canadore’s e-Hub will support the students in bringing their concepts to reality.
“Branden and James made it through the first round of judging scrutiny and voting,” said Drouin. “Our community can help them get the funds to bring their ideas to life through popular vote. And we have the advantage of being in a community that supports its own. We are proud of one another and are genuinely interested in helping each other succeed.”
Canadore was the only college of the province’s 24 publicly-assisted colleges to have multiple finalists in the William G. Davis Fund contest’s top 10.
Voting is now open until November 5 and you can cast your vote here.
