Meet the 2022 James Dyson Award National Winners
The James Dyson Award is an international design competition that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. Open to current students and recent design and engineering graduates, the Award is a chance for budding inventors to make a name for themselves. As well as winning prize money, they can generate media exposure to kick-start their career, earn the esteem of their peers – and perhaps gain the confidence to launch their own business.
The James Dyson Award forms part of a wider commitment by Sir James Dyson, to demonstrate the power of engineers to change the world. Over the years, the competition has supported over 300 inventions with prize money and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Dyson’s engineering-education charity.
Today, 7 September, we announce the ingenious inventions designed by young people around the world that have won the National leg of the competition, across the 29 markets the Award operates in.
Read on to learn how young people are engineering a better, more sustainable future.
Find out which of the National finalists progress to the International stages of the competition on Wednesday 12 October.
-
-
Problem: A spike in the demand for at-home care, alongside an under-resourced and rapidly ageing workforce is making community healthcare work increasingly dangerous. Healthcare workers are often left to reposition patients on their own, meaning their bodies undergo high levels of strain. Although existing devices support with this, they are usually expensive, bulky and require multiple people to operate.
Solution: Airlift is a pneumatic patient transfer device which aids healthcare workers in three key patient movements. The design is intended to prevent ageing healthcare workers from injuring themselves when working unsupported in the community.
Runner-up – Wound Project
Runner-up – Frankie Chair
-
Problem: One quarter of computer users report hand discomfort with frequent use of a regular PC mouse. This can lead to repetitive strain injuries, causing a variety of musculoskeletal disorders in the shoulders, forearms and wrists.
Solution: The orbit mouse incorporates an effective prevention and strengthening exercise for repetitive strain injuries. This has been incorporated into the mouse through three resistance bands pulling towards the centre, shifting the input of the user to a different muscle group – the latissimus dorsi – which is the main muscle required for an upright posture and a healthy shoulder and back area. The joystick keeps the arm in its natural resting position, minimising stress on the arm, while the touch-sensitive ring on the top of the mouse eliminates the traditional scroll wheel, reducing stress on the wrists.
Runner-up – Open Source Brain-Computer Interface (OSBI)
Runner-up – Project ARCSTAR
-
-
-
Problem: There is an increasing number of patients undergoing treatments from home who are limited in mobility and day-to-day functions due to restrictive IV equipment.
Solution: Ivvy replaces the current IV pole with a wearable device, providing more comfort and mobility to the patient. There is an infusion pump which has been designed to have a minimal interface, working with a linear peristaltic pump. This means that health care workers can set-up the therapy, and patients can follow their treatment through the LED strip, the display, and sound notifications. The data from the infusion pump is then sent through to the software, meaning patients can be assessed from home.
Runner-up – Sur+
Runner-up – IMPACKT
-
Problem: There are limited cooking utensils available for those with disabilities, in particular Parkinson’s disease. The current utensils available can make cooking challenging and typically unsafe.
Solution: Taco is an assistive tool which makes cooking preparation more accessible. It allows inexperienced home cooks and those with limited hand mobility to slice food thinner, straighter and safer.
Runner-up – Bio-Brick
Runner-up – Polyformer
-
-
-
Problem: Rare disease screenings are often not conducted on children. Through research, it is found that patients are more likely to recover from these rare diseases if they are found at the earliest stage possible.
Solution: CareRare is an all-in-one clinical screening machine that uses a self-developed algorithm to check for genetic syndromes and illnesses. The machine can then tell the user the suspected disease type, the corresponding probability, and provide doctors follow-up examination recommendations, medication recommendations and other diagnosis and treatments where necessary.
Runner-up – SHIELD
Runner-up – ThermoWear
-
Problem: Small kitchen appliances inevitably end up breaking since they’re exposed to heat, mechanical constraints, and humidity; yet their sealed design makes any self-repair nearly impossible.
Solution: The Nobsolete is a multipurpose kitchen tool made of three parts. Each part is designed to be taken apart, so that in the event that the machine fails, the user can easily swap out the precise component that failed. This module-based design means users can keep their product longer and make it evolve as their kitchen skills progress.
Runner-up – Oxylon
Runner-up – Coral Alert
-
-
-
Problem: Every year, between 8 to12 million tons of plastic waste enters the oceans, with the majority passing through rivers. Plastic pollution is one of the main causes of marine species extinction, the destruction of our ecosystems and health problems for animals and human beings.
Solution: TrashBoom is a scalable floating barrier that prevents plastic waste in rivers from entering the oceans. It uses locally sourced materials and open-source blueprints for rapid manufacturing, which will boost local economies and raise awareness of plastic pollution.
Runner-up – Plant Screw
Runner-up – Pinn
.jpg?$responsive$)
-
Problem: Glaucoma is an eye disease that is caused by intraocular pressure (IOP) damage to the optic nerve. With 3.6 million people blinded globally, glaucoma accounts for 10.7% of blindness, making it the second most common ocular disease in the world. Current therapeutic approaches to reduce UOP are only available in the market for diagnosed patients, including invasive surgeries. However, there are no preventative methods against glaucoma.
Solution: O_Oley is a biomedical device which has been designed to stop the development of glaucoma. It reduces ocular stress and keeps the eye healthy by providing photo thermal stretching on the optical tissue and muscles. This aims to improve ocular compliance and protect optic nerves.
Runner-up – PreDyctor
-
-
-
Problem: Without the immediate administration of epinephrine, those who suffer from severe allergic reactions can go into anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal. At the moment, single-use injectors are costly, have safety concerns and are difficult to use.
Solution: EpiSHOT is a single hand-operated autoinjector to deliver emergency medicine intramuscularly or subcutaneously to treat life-threatening situations like severe allergic reactions. It can be sterilised and reloaded for reuse within two minutes of the first use.
Runner-up – The Thermal Floater
Runner-up – Kudarat Bioleather
 - EpiShot.png?$responsive$)
-
Problem: There is a lack of physical maths resources for older year groups within primary education, where topics often increase in difficulty. This has a domino effect upon students, meaning some develop an anxiety around maths due to not understanding concepts or not having the resources to support effectively.
Solution: Méadú aims to aid curbing the development of maths anxiety in students aged 7 - 12 through interactive maths lessons. The device primarily functions as an interactive multiplication table for children to learn up to their 12 times tables.
Runner-up – Flare
Runner-up – Proteus Controller
-
-
-
Problem: The current way to communicate with blind swimmers during a swim is rudimentary or difficult to access.
Solution: Argo is an open-source project designed to increase the autonomy of visually impaired swimmers by signalling their turn and orientation in the pool through different vibrations.
Runner-up – L.B. Drone
Runner-up – Fiil
-
Problem: When a hard-of-hearing individual talks to someone who doesn’t have a hearing limitation, it can be difficult and confusing to resolve misunderstandings. Smartphones and watches are often used to support this through vibrations. However, these are often distracting as they force individuals to pay attention to devices.
Solution: The Air Talk-Starter can shoot an air vortex ring towards the head of the person being spoken to in order to indicate the direction the communication is coming from, signalling to the partner the beginning of the conversation.
Runner-up – Charmy
-
-
-
Problem: Fall accidents account for the largest portion of accidents at construction sites in Korea. Existing construction sites use safety hooks to prevent falls, however these are often not worn correctly, if at all.
Solution: The Rotary Safety Hook enables construction workers to pass through a vertical level of scaffolding without needing to manually detach the hook to move to the next level.
Runner-up – One-Step
Runner-up – St:roll
-
Problem: There is a lack of support for helping autistic children to learn how to use pencils correctly.
Solution: The MA – Pencil is a multifunctional pencil set which guides children with autism to write independently. It has a weighted gripper, which is also curved, so that it is ergonomic to the user.
Runner-up – WhaleCro
Runner-up – SwiSH
-
-
-
Problem: Mexico has faced many water-related issues, including drought, questionable management of the water supply system, and unequal access to water. As the population grows, vertical housing has increased and therefore there are higher demands from the water supply system, adding to these issues.
Solution: ALT-59 is a water-saving system which has been designed for vertical housing, making it possible for people to save water. This system can help a family of four save up to 20,000 litres annually.
Runner-up – Solar Dehydrator
Runner-up – Guibsa
-
Problem: Poor indoor air quality is an invisible and often underestimated health risk. On average, we spend 90% of our lives indoors, where in extreme cases, indoor air pollution is 25 times more harmful than outside air pollution.
Solution: BREATHE is a window-type installation system which improves indoor air quality in small living spaces.
Runner-up – Dropless
Runner-up – Rooftop Cooler
-
-
-
Problem: Postpartum is a period of rapid physical and emotional change where mothers report feeling overwhelmed and unprepared. Midwives provide vital support, however, staff shortages and underfunding mean this support is lacking and therefore mothers are affected long-term.
Solution: Hatch reduces the physical demands on mothers experiencing limited mobility and pain by enabling maternal proximity. This assists mothers in building confidence independently caring for their newborn, particularly after C-Section deliveries.
Runner-up – Spot Check
Runner-up – Somnum
 (1).jpg?$responsive$)
-
Problem: Breast cancer is the most common cancer around the world, with the Philippines having the highest incidence of this cancer in Asia. Survivors usually require the removal of breast tissue through a Mastectomy. Post-surgery, patients often develop an altered sense of self-esteem, leading to introversion, insecurity and inhibition.
Solution: Brakong is a lightweight, external breast prosthesis for breast cancer survivors, made from bakong, an aquatic plant with antimicrobial properties, initially thought to be an obstruction in lakes. It is made using 3D scanning technology to match the chest curves and features of the wearer.
Runner-up – Noah
Runner-up – Float-E
-
-
-
Problem: Current methods of wound assessment rely on the subjective scoring of colour, smell, temperature or expensive laboratory biochemical tests. Inappropriate wound healing could also lead to tissue inflammation, as well as necrosis, and in extreme cases, death. Moreover, the most common mistake in wound healing is changing the dressing too often, which can lead to infections and tissue disruption.
Solution: SmartHeal is a precise, affordable and scalable smart pH sensor integrated with a wound dressing. By monitoring the pH value, it can assess the wound condition and detect infection without removing the dressing, and subsequently without tissue disruption.
Runner-up – RoboColoBee
Runner-up – Semi-permeable graphene-based membrane
-
Problem: Stroke therapy centres do not have proper equipment for patient rehabilitation. They often rely on makeshift methods, such as towels and plastic bags, to allow patients to execute movements against friction. However, these do not work well, as they don’t guide movement, meaning a carer needs to facilitate the exercises.
Solution: Rehabit has been designed to be a stroke patient's personal therapist, at home. There are four products that guide the patient by hand, to execute movement correctly, safely, and independently.
Runner-up – Vertical Farming – Reinvented for Urban Cities
Runner-up – Rollerball Itch Relief
-
-
-
Problem: There is limited support for wheelchair users when trying to carry their own luggage. This limits people with disabilities when trying to travel independently.
Solution: Hoops is a revolutionary piece of luggage designed for wheelchairs. Attaching to the wheel's axis, the user is given full autonomy when travelling.
Runner-up – Disperseed
Runner-up – Agro Biomaterials
-
Problem: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability in childhood – it is caused by damage to the brain and has no cure. Hemiplegia, where half of the body has difficulty with voluntary movement, is the most common presentation of CP. Studies show that continuous arm-hand rehabilitation is crucial for improving quality of life. Specialists recommend additional home therapy to extend the therapeutic benefits, however, there is a lack of engaging therapy tools.
Solution: Hemi is a therapeutic toy that motivates children with arm-hand motor disabilities to continue exercising at home in a fun and engaging way.
Runner-up – Banoo
Runner-up – Low temperature evaporation
-
-
-
Problem:
According to recent research, Cerebral palsy affects roughly three in 1,000 births. Cerebral palsy can often affect individuals when wearing shoes, especially in sport, such as running.Solution: Zest enables people with Cerebral palsy to wear shoes with ease, making them quick and easy to put on and wear. In addition, they can be engineered based on the data of personal physical ability with 3D knit and 3D print technology.
Runner-up – R2Home
Runner-up – Line
-
Problem: People who are hard of hearing can often suffer from psychological stress forcing them to stay at home.
Solution: Moses is a helmet engineered to help people who are hard of hearing. It has been designed to use the "Sound to Motion" sensory substitution to translate road information into dynamic language, making riding safer and more comfortable.
Runner-up – Music out of the box
Runner-up – Class Corner
-
-
-
Problem: The demand for dairy products in Thailand has increased significantly over the past 30 years. The main issue affecting the amount of milk produced is dairy cow propagation, due to farmers not able to detect estrus conditions within the cows.
Solution: KomilO is an automatic system which detects the estrus conditions of dairy cows. This will increase the chances of artificial insemination of dairy cows, which, in the long-term, will ensure the demand for dairy products is met.
Runner-up – The Amazing Hearing Device (AHDs)
Runner-up – Aeolus
-
Problem: According to the World Health Organisation, more than 1 billion people have respiratory diseases. Chest physiotherapy is a method which is applied to these patients to ensure they can breathe comfortably. For those who do not have access to these costly devices, they can be supported by a physiotherapist or carer. However, the accuracy and effectiveness of this is often dependent on the person’s knowledge.
Solution: PhysioCircle is a training system that allows users to practice chest physiotherapy on a smart vest. It teaches the correct method used by physiotherapists, helping those with respiratory diseases to breathe easily.
Runner-up – ForestGuard
Runner-up – Kikkis
-
-
-
Problem: Through work associated with Engineers Without Borders UK (EWB), various regions around the world often suffer from bushfires in the dry season and receive a large amount of rainfall in the wet season. However, there are no fixed solutions in place to help support during these extreme weathers.
Solution: FireOut is a system designed to control wildfires in regions suffering from recurring outbreaks to protect life and land by adopting environment-friendly techniques.
Runner-up – YesCompost
Runner-up – IoT integrated power shaft health condition monitoring
-
Problem: Breast health monitoring can be complicated or confusing. On top of this, there is a distinct lack of at-home solutions to support women with at-home monitoring of their breasts.
Solution: Dotplot is an at-home breast health monitoring tool that offers guided self-checks. It is designed to facilitate the early detection of breast cancer by enabling and encouraging women to stick to a regular self-check routine.
Runner-up – ORCA
Runner-up – HARP
-
-
-
Problem: Scoliosis is a lateral curvature which occurs most often before puberty. It affects 2-3% of the population, which is estimated to be around 6 to 9 million people in the US alone.
Solution: Airy is a scoliosis brace which overcomes the typical brace's limitations of long-term fabrication, low patient compliance, and non-recyclability. Patients can adjust the brace to accommodate their bodies and future growth for three years thanks to Airy's repositionable feature.
Runner-up – Apt
Runner-up – Ag-Zen Cloak
.jpg?$responsive$)
Press contacts
-
Dyson Press Office
-
