Thousands of dollars will be awarded to schools for their inventions in robotics, art, product design and industrial design - open to any students from years 5 to 12.

Wollongong-based 3D printing training organisation ModFab was behind the idea as a way to push children in the right technological direction with the right skills that will be vital for our future workforce.

"If today's students are going to be the engineers, designers, artists and entrepreneurs of the future, they need to be using technologies [like this] as early as possible," said organiser Heike Roberts.

Mrs Roberts and her partner Ben said the four categories were chosen to be relevant to school curriculum, though the list of creative possibilities was virtually endless. A hard case for a mini computer, a new clothes peg, functional parts of a robot, or a sculpture were just some ideas.

"What we're hoping to do is just tip off the thinking," said Mr Roberts. "We hope to expand the competition out to NSW and see where it goes from there, but there will always be a headquarters in the Illawarra. So the final works and the judging will also be done here, and hopefully some sort of expo event where people can come and see the completed 3D works will eventuate."

Entry is open until September 21, with all printed designs showcased at Wollongong's Blender Festival in October.

For more information visit: modfab.com.au.