Smart plasters, ecological 3D printers, domestic drips: here are the winners of the James Dyson Award 2022
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Over the years the James Dyson Award has awarded over £1 million to over 300 promising inventions designed by young engineers and scientists from around the world. For 2022, James Dyson has selected two global winners, each of whom will receive €35,700, and two runners-up, who will receive €5,700 in prize money to support the next stages of their inventions. “Each year, the James Dyson Award demonstrates young people’s passion for improving the planet and solving environmental and medical problems,” said the founder and CEO of Dyson. “There are people who care about issues that are theirs. to heart, but these young inventors are doing something more productive: they are diligently reaching out to solve problems through engineering, science and ingenious design.
International Winner – SmartHEAL
The problem. When a wound is dressed it is very difficult to tell if the healing process is going well. The biggest injury mistake is changing your dressing too often. In fact, this habit could lead to infection and tissue breakdown. Current methods of wound assessment rely on objective evaluations of color, odor and temperature – or on expensive laboratory biochemical tests.
The solution. SmartHeal is an accurate, cost-effective, and scalable pH sensor for wound dressing. Through Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) communication systems and wound pH monitoring, SmartHEAL is able to assess the condition of the wound and detect an infection without removing the dressing.
The next steps. The team will finish testing, then begin clinical trials. The goal is to complete the certification process within three years, so that we can start distributing and selling SmartHEAL dressings in 2025.
Winner of the Sustainability category – Polyformer
The problem. While working in a makerspace in Rwanda, Swaleh and Reiten learned that many locals were unable to use 3D printers due to the high import price of filament in the country. They also noted the lack of infrastructure to recycle plastic bottles in Rwanda.
The solution. Polyformer is a low-cost device that recycles plastic bottles into filament for 3D printers. Polyformer cuts plastic bottles into long strips which are fed into an extruder. The strip is then thermoformed into a 1.75mm filament which passes through a nozzle. The filament is passed through vents to cool the plastic before being wound around a spool, ready to be fed into a 3D printer. With Polyformer, makers have easier access to affordable, high-quality 3D printer filament. This encourages the use of design infrastructure and career consideration in developing countries, enabling creators to recycle waste and use production productively.
“By turning used plastic bottles into filament for 3D printers, Polyformer helps reduce the amount of waste going to landfills and provides an affordable and abundant material to engineers and designers, especially in developing countries. Their idea will create new opportunities for other inventors to prototype their ideas using 3D printers,” says Dyson.
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The next steps. Swaleh and Reiten are currently building new Polyformers for use in their partners’ makerspaces in Rwanda and are designing new inventions within the project, such as the Polyjoiner, Polydryer, Polyspooler and many more. A standard 500ml plastic bottle can only produce 3m of filament, which is not enough length for most print jobs. For this reason, Polyjoiner was born, a mechanism capable of automatically joining multiple printer filaments into a single long piece. But a plastic bottle can absorb some of the liquid it is filled with. The presence of water in the filament negatively impacts print quality, so Swaleh and Reiten are developing the Polydryer, a low-cost machine that evaporates moisture from 3D printer filament. Finally Polyspooler is a device that automatically winds the recycled filament, thus making it more practical to use.
The whole project is open-source and can be beneficial for developing countries’ growth through lower development costs, higher safety and better quality. It fosters collaboration, employment opportunities and skills development, encouraging community development and collective equity.
International runner-up – Ivvy
The problem. Charlotte Blancke is a recent graduate of the University of Antwerp. For your thesis, you dealt with medical care at home, starting from the consideration that they are on the increase, but the equipment used for intravenous therapies at home are the same as in hospitals, despite the fact that the characteristics of a home environment are different. As more patients turn to home health care services for recovery or long-term care, complex medical devices are being used more frequently at home, often under poor conditions.
The solution. Infusion therapy is the administration of fluids or medications through a cannula or needle at a controlled pace. Ivvy replaces the current IV pole with a wearable device that offers patients optimal mobility, an easy-to-use infusion pump, and integrated software that allows nursing staff to monitor patients remotely.
There is currently a lack of feedback on intravenous treatments and existing infusion pumps have a complex interface. Charlotte has developed an infusion pump with a simplified interface and intuitive use. Nurses can easily set up treatment at home and patients can follow their therapy through an LED strip, display and sound notifications.
“Being treated with an old-fashioned IV on a tall stand can make a home feel like a hospital. Ivvy is a simple concept that could improve people’s treatment and their quality of life. It demonstrates the genius of a simple design,” comments James Dyson.
Competition
How the James Dyson Award works, the award for budding inventors
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The competition
The program Designs something that solves a problem. This problem can be something we face every day in our lives or a global problem. The important thing is that the solution is effective and demonstrates thoughtful design thinking.
The process Entries are first assessed nationally by an external judging panel and a Dyson engineer. Each operating market assigns one national winner and two national finalists. Among these winners, a jury of Dyson engineers selects an international shortlist of 20 projects. The top 20 shortlisted projects are then reviewed by James Dyson, who selects the international winners.
The prize
- The international winner receives a £30,000 prize
- The winner of the Sustainability category receives a prize of £30,000.
- International runners-up receive £5,000.
- Each national winner receives £5,000.
Candidates register via an online form available on the James Dyson Award website. Applications open again in March 2023. Applicants must concisely explain what their invention is about, how it works and what their development process was. The best submissions are those that solve a real problem, are clearly explained, show iterative development, provide proof of physical prototyping, and provide supporting images and videos.
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