Calling inventive students with frustrations

The 2011 international James Dyson Award is now open for entries - challenging young engineers and designers to develop problem solving inventions. Previous winners of the award have tackled problems from different angles: a buoyancy aid inspired by a grenade launcher to a kitchen tap which can tackle a blaze in your home.

The award, run in eighteen countries, celebrates ingenuity and creativity with the winner receiving £10,000 to develop their invention and £10,000 for their university. Entries are accepted until 2nd August.

James Dyson said: “Put faith in frustrations and solve the problems that cause them. We’re looking for the people who rather than accept a problem and make do, design a simple and effective solution.”

He added, “The James Dyson Award champions the ideas of young designers and engineers - encouraging them to develop inventions, defy their critics, and turn them into commercial successes for themselves and their economy.”

Entrants will submit footage, images and sketches to jamesdysonaward.org along with stories detailing their design process and inspiration. Their ideas will be scrutinised by judges around the world and Dyson engineers before James Dyson announces the international winner on 8th November.

Last year’s award was won by Samuel Adeloju, an industrial design graduate from University of New South Wales Sydney. His invention, Longreach, is a lifesaving projectile buoyancy aid that uses grenade propulsion technology to fire an emergency buoyancy aid up to 150 metres out to sea. He is now refining the technology with a view to putting it into commercial production.

He said, “Many opportunities have presented themselves since winning the James Dyson Award. Longreach is evolving and I plan to either license the design or start a company to manufacture and distribute it.”

Tim Whitehead, from Loughbourgh University won the UK leg of the award; his invention was a portable device that filters and sterilises the water from a lake or a stream in two minutes. He said, “Since winning the UK James Dyson Award I’ve had so much interest in my ideas that I had a job deciding which path to take. I am now working with an industrial partner on a version for the developing world, which will be available to charities later this year.”

University level students of product design, industrial design and engineering can enter their problem solving inventions by 2nd August 2011, by visiting www.jamesdysonaward.org.