Delightfully bonkers award issues call for ingenious and unusual ways of flashing a bulb, tube or other vessel that contains neon gas.

The inaugural Flashing Light Prize sought novel approaches to flashing an incandescent light bulb — and the entries certainly did not disappoint, with the winner having employed a Wimhurst machine, ignition coil and a tiny 6v bulb being excited with 40kV. However, our favourite by a long measure was the entry where a custom ASIC had been fabricated for the task and this had been designed using that well known EDA tool, the Inkscape vector illustration software.

The stakes — or rather minimum voltage required — have been upped this year and the challenge is now to flash a bulb, tube or other vessel containing neon gas. With a closing date of 1st February, don’t delay and get those entries in. A worthwhile endeavour for the Christmas break, perhaps…