Announces the fifth edition of the James Dyson Awards in India
Two global INR 2,900,000 prizes to be won
New Delhi, April 06, 2021: Since 2005, the James Dyson Award has challenged inventive and entrepreneurial undergraduates and recent graduates of engineering and design, to ‘Design something that solves a problem’. Purposely broad and open-ended, the brief challenges students to solve big problems. Past winners have found solutions to renewable energy generation, new forms of sustainable plastics, and medical and cancer screenings. James Dyson chooses the two global winners; they receive vital funding and global recognition – key first steps to take their ideas into real life practical application.
“Young people want to change the world and the Award supports them to do that giving crucial funding, validation and a platform to launch their ideas. They are remarkably successful, 65% of international winners are commercialising their ideas, against a backdrop where 90% of start-ups fail. I will be looking for radical inventions that challenge and question established thinking. Good luck!” James Dyson, Founder and Chief Engineer at Dyson.
2020 saw a record-breaking number of entries to the Award and the new Sustainability prize awarded its first recipient: AuREUS, invented by Carvey Ehren Maigue from the Philippines. Recognising the role that engineers and scientists play in creating a sustainable future, the James Dyson Award introduced this global recognition prize last year, focused on ideas which tackle environmental issues and share Dyson’s philosophy of lean engineering, doing more with less.
In 2021, there continues to be two INR 2,900,000 global prizes: the International Sustainability winner and the Overall International winner. But first, each participating country and region will award a National winner (INR 190,000) and two National runners-up. Those that win a National accolade proceed to the International awarding stages.
See the 2021 James Dyson Award launch video here.
Solving real problems:
The best inventions are often the simplest, providing clear and intelligent solutions to real-world problems. The 2020 International winner, The Blue Box, is an at-home breast cancer detection device that diagnoses patients using an AI algorithm and a urine sample. It is designed to be less invasive and more accessible than current screening processes, after witnessing a rise in women skipping mammograms. The inventor of The Blue Box, 23 year-old Judit Giro Benet, says winning the Award was “a real turning point as the prize money will allow for extensive patenting to expedite research and software development”. The prize money and global publicity the Award gave Judit means she is now working on final stages of prototyping and software development at the University of California Irvine, ready for human studies and clinical trials.
Want to know what Dyson engineers are looking for in an award-winning invention? Hear from long standing James Dyson Award judge, Peter Gammack, VP of New Product Innovation at Dyson, on the Dyson Newsroom here.
Boosting opportunities:
The Award has given young inventors international media exposure, which has opened up further investment and opportunities for them to develop their ideas. The UK 2011 National winner KwickScreen, infection-controlled screens for patient safety, has grown to establish a company employing over 70 people, supplying screens to every NHS trust in the UK and 240 hospitals internationally. In 2017, US National runner-up SoaPen, a colourful soap pen encouraging safe handwashing, commercialised their invention and were listed in the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 List. SoaPen now ships its expanding product portfolio across America, most recently creating a hand sanitizer to meet demand during the Covid-19 pandemic. 2011’s Singaporean runner-up, Rabbit Ray, is used by 44 hospitals across 23 countries. It’s a communications tool for hospital staff to use when explaining medical procedures to children. Its inventor, Esther Wang, has since founded an award-winning health-education company, Joytingle, and her Rabbit Ray invention supports medical procedure communications from vaccinations to chemotherapy.
Throughout this year’s Award, stay up to date with how past winners are engineering our futures on the James Dyson Award Instagram page and the Dyson Newsroom.
Notes to editors
The James Dyson Award forms part of a wider commitment by Sir James Dyson, to demonstrate the power of engineers to change the world. The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, the James Dyson Foundation and James Dyson Award encourage aspiring engineers, to apply their knowledge and discover new ways to improve lives through technology. Since the Award first opened in 2005, James Dyson has contributed over £100m to boundary-breaking concepts in education and other charitable causes. The competition has supported nearly 250 inventions with prize money, and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, an engineering-education charity funded by Dyson profits.
Recent past winners
· 2020 International winner – The Blue Box (Spain)
Invented by 23-year-old Judit Giró Benet, The Blue Box is a new way to detect breast cancer, at-home, using a urine sample and an AI algorithm.
· 2020 Sustainability winner – AuREUS System Technology (The Philippines)
Invented by 27-year-old Carvey Ehren Maigue, AuREUS is a new material, made from waste crop, which converts UV light into renewable energy.
· 2020 International runners-up:
o The Tyre Collective (GB) – A device that captures tyre-wear particles at the wheel of a vehicle, to be recycled for future applications.
o Scope (Canada) – A new lens using liquid crystals enabling a lossless camera zoom.
· 2019 International winner – Marina Tex (GB)
MarinaTex is a home compostable material designed as an alternative to single-use plastic films, invented by Lucy Hughes. The material is comprised of waste material from the fishing industry and sustainable algae.
Since winning, Lucy has been working with labs in Durham, UK to establish the material properties on MarinaTex and determine how it can be scaled up. She also gained additional business and fiscal support by winning the Start Up Sussex Social Impact prize, UK. In 2020, Lucy secured funding for a patent and registered MarinaTex as a trademark, as well as speaking at conferences such as the European Commission's Blue Invest Day. This year Lucy is looking for further funding for MarinaTex and waits to see whether she is selected as a finalist in the Green Alley Awards, after being chosen as one of the top 20 finalists.
· 2018 International winner – O-Wind Turbine (GB)
O-Wind Turbine, invented by Nicolas Orellana and Yaseen Noorani, is an omnidirectional wind turbine that can capture wind travelling in any direction, unlike conventional turbines. This allows it to be used in urban environments where wind flow is multi-directional.
Nicolas and Yaseen have spent the past year optimising the technology in O-Wind Turbine and expanding the invention’s IP to more countries across the world. Most recently, the team were awarded the Image of Chile Award for Innovation and Exploration with Global Impact, securing a grant to help further support research and development. This year, the team are focusing on piloting opportunities and securing potential distributors globally.
This is the fifth edition of the James Dyson Awards in India. A summary of the recent national winners:
· 2020 - Shashank Nimkar, from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; emerged as the national winner for his invention – Earth Tatva – a unique material composition that reduces mining for natural resources by up to 60% through recycling of post-industrial fired ceramic waste.
· 2019 - Ashwathy Satheesan; also from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad emerged as the national winner for her invention – Fleo; a writing aid for people with Parkinson tremor.
· 2018 - Amit Kumar and Rituparna Guha, Masters of Design students at IIT Delhi, for their innovative creation – SAMARTH - an assistive mechanism which provides an easy, safe and convenient way of shifting wheel chair users from wheelchairs to other mediums, were adjudicated the national winners.
· 2017 - Asish Mohandas, who designed Maattam, a retrofit system for transferring patients between different rest units such as a bed or an operating table; that eliminated occurrence of secondary injuries for the patients, while also reducing the manual labour for the workers involved, was the winner of the inaugural edition of the James Dyson Awards in India
About the competition
The brief
Design something that solves a problem. This problem may be a frustration that we all face in daily life, or a global issue. The important thing is that the solution is effective and demonstrates considered design thinking.
The process
Entries are judged first at the national level by a panel of external judges. Each operating market awards a National winner and two National runners-up. From these winners, a panel of Dyson engineers then select an international shortlist of 20 entries. The top 20 projects are then reviewed by Sir James Dyson who selects the International winner, International runners-up and the International Sustainability winner.
The prize
· The International winner receives a prize of £30,000, plus £5,000 for the winner’s university.
· The Sustainability winner receives a prize of £30,000.
· The two International runners-up receive £5,000.
· Each National winner receives £2,000.
Sustainability winner
In 2020, the James Dyson Award introduced a new, additional prize that recognises efforts in sustainability. The Sustainability winner is chosen by Sir James Dyson from the international top 20 finalists. Potential winners of this accolade will have paid close attention to their invention’s part in solving a sustainability-related problem and today’s sustainable agenda. This could be through its materials, design process, methods of manufacture, or to the problem it is trying to solve.
The deadline to apply: midnight PST on 30 June 2021.
How to enter
Candidates enter through an online application form via the James Dyson Award website.
Entrants should explain what their invention is, how it works, and their development process. The best entries solve a real problem, are clearly explained, show iterative development, provide evidence of prototyping and have supporting imagery and a video.
All judges will take into consideration the restrictions to prototyping and product development as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eligibility criteria:
The James Dyson Award runs in 28 countries and regions worldwide. These are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, UK, and USA. The Award launches for the first time in Poland in 2021.
Entrants must be, or have been within the last four years, enrolled for at least one semester in an undergraduate or graduate engineering/design related course. This course must be at a university in a country or region chosen to participate in the James Dyson Award.
In the case of team entries, all members must be or have been within the last four years, enrolled for at least one semester in an undergraduate or graduate programme at a university in a country or region chosen to participate in the James Dyson Award. At least one team member must have studied an eligible subject in engineering or design.
From 2020, those participating in a degree level apprenticeship at Level 6 or Level 7, and those who have completed said apprenticeship in the past four years, are now eligible to enter the award.
Further FAQs can be found on the James Dyson Award website.
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