The Boca Bearing Company recently announced that it is celebrating its 25^th year in business by giving away over $20,000 in cash and prizes as part of its international 2012 Boca Bearings Innovation Contest. Boca Bearing Company believes in supporting innovators who push the limits of new technologies that will drive the future economy. Boca Bearing Company has a long-standing commitment to innovation, including its involvement with the 10,000 year-clock, a clock that is designed to run for ten millennia with very little maintenance and interruption. It is powered by mechanical energy harvested from sunlight as well as the people who visit it. The primary materials used in the clock are marine grade 316 stainless steel, titanium and dry running ceramic ball bearings from the Boca Bearing Company. The clock is being funded and built on property owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. Boca Bearing Company's customers have also been heavily involved in creativity and invention, and the global Innovation Contest is a way to thank them for their commitment not only to the company but also to helping drive advancements in the world around us.

Contest winners will be chosen based on a video submission of their innovative, progressive or overall "cool" projects that utilize ball bearings, roller bearings or linear bearings. One finalist will be chosen by the voting public each month in 2012 to win an iPad2, and the Grand Prize winner will be chosen by the Boca Bearing Company to receive a grant check for $10,000.The two Runner Ups, chosen by Boca Bearing Company, will each win their own 3-D Printer from Makerbot Industries ($2,500 value each).

Any mechanical device that requires either linear or rotary motion generally also requires a bearing to make that motion more efficient. Any project can be submitted for entry such as Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAV's), Robots, Kinetic Art Sculptures, Engine Hacks, Performance Racing Applications, Sustainable Energy Projects and much more.

"Boca Bearing Company started with humble beginnings as a ball bearing supplier to the Radio Control (RC) hobby market. As the years progressed, we started offering a wider variety of bearings appropriate for use in various different applications from industrial to hobby and recreational uses. Many of the young men and women that enjoyed playing with RC vehicles as kids eventually grew up and went to work in advanced manufacturing industries such as robotics, optics, engineering, applied physics and other hands-on fields," said Allen Baum, president of Boca Bearing Company. "These customers took us along with them and helped to expand the company's product line and focus. Today Boca Bearing Company's product line can not only be found in RC cars, RC helicopters and RC engines but also in turbine flow meters, unmanned autonomous vehicles, robots, semiconductor manufacturing, MRI machines, packaging equipment and much more. We've created this contest as a way to thank our global customers for their commitment to our business and to innovation."