Two NZ Inventions Make International Shortlist

Press release
Thursday, 26 August 2010

Two NZ Inventions Make International Shortlist

Dyson engineers pick the top 20 product designs for the James Dyson Award 2010

Engineers at Dyson’s British headquarters have narrowed the international shortlist of the James Dyson Award to a final top 20 inventions. The list includes a device that fires buoyancy aids 150 metres out to sea, a life raft that generates fresh drinking water and a sports bag that kills odour and bacteria with UV light.

The annual James Dyson Award challenges aspiring design students to develop inventive yet practical inventions. With a prize of £20,000, entries must convince a panel of international experts, Dyson engineers and finally James Dyson of their potential to solve a problem. The winner will be announced on 4 October.

Whittled down from over 100 entries, the shortlist includes two New Zealand entries – an ergonomic fire hose device to make lighter work for fire fighters, and a seat for the elderly which can be attached to public facilities such as lamp posts, providing a convenient resting place.

The seat’s designer, 21 year old Nichola Trudgen from Massey University in Albany, says her invention, Wanderest, was designed to encourage mobility for the elderly.
“My research found walking to be the main form of exercise for seniors, and that elderly people would feel motivated to walk in the community more often, if there were more accessible rest stops on walking routes.
“Walking can improve and even extend a person’s life. When walking with my Grandma, who lives in a rest home, I’ve seen her struggle out of public seats and benches because they are low, and awkward to get out of,” said the Auckland student.
Steven Wyeth’s design, Minotaur, is a fire hose system worn by a fire fighter. A hose is attached to a harness, at the wearer’s centre of gravity, giving freedom of movement and comfort, and reducing the physical demands on the user, irrespective of the duration of operation.

“The padded harness is contoured to the body so that it moves with the fire fighter. My design also considers advancements in the control of the nozzle, as well as the position of the user over the top of the nozzle, with the wrist situated in a neutral position,” said Steven.

“I’ve shown Minotaur to some guys at the New Zealand Fire Service and they said the current nozzle system has remained unchanged for years now, and so they were pretty excited that a hose system had been designed with the user’s experience at the forefront of the design decisions and innovations.” the 23 year old said.

Please see full shortlist below

James Dyson, inventor of the world’s first vacuum cleaner with no loss of suction, said:
“We’re looking for useful ideas that demonstrate adventurous thinking and a rigorous approach to a problem. Many of this year’s designs have real potential.”

The Awards are a good spring board for talented young designers. Last year’s winner Automist is now on the market as a result of the award’s support. It’s a fire extinguisher that can be fitted directly onto a standard kitchen tap. In the event of a fire, a wireless heat detector triggers the under-sink pump, driving mains water through a nozzle - quickly filling the kitchen with a fine mist to put out the blaze. Its designers, Yusuf Muhammad and Paul Thomas, invested their winnings in testing and prototyping. There is a short clip about Automist available on YouTube.

All of this year’s entries can be seen on the website www.jamesdysonaward.org.

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Notes to editors:

• Last year’s runner up is now employed by Dyson as a design engineer. Dyson is on an expansion drive to recruit 350 new engineers at its Malmesbury research and development centre this year.
• James Dyson will announce the global winner on October 5, 2010.
The James Dyson Award winner will receive: £10,000 for the student or the team; £10,000 for the current or former student’s university department.
The award was open to any student of design (or graduate within four years of graduation) who is studying or studied in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA.
The James Dyson Award is part of the James Dyson Foundation, a registered charity with the aim of supporting design, technology and engineering education, medical research charities and local community projects. The James Dyson Foundation works with schools and universities around the UK and internationally.

About the James Dyson Award
The James Dyson Award is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It’s run by the James Dyson Foundation, James Dyson’s charitable trust, as part of its mission to inspire young people about design engineering.

The James Dyson Award winner will receive:
A James Dyson Award trophy.
£10,000 for the student or the team.
£10,000 for the current or former student’s university department.
An opportunity to visit Dyson’s engineering facilities either in the UK or Malaysia.

About the James Dyson Foundation
The James Dyson Foundation is a registered charity with the aim of supporting design, technology and engineering education, medical research charities and local community projects. The James Dyson Foundation works with schools and universities around the UK and internationally.

THE DYSON ENGINEERS’ SHORTLIST

LIFESTYLE INVENTIONS
UK
e.quinox battery box: A kiosk that generates power and distributes it via portable battery boxes. It can provide up to 30 hours of lighting using LED lights. Small electrical appliances such as radios and mobile phone chargers can be connected.

UK
Electrostatic Noticeboard: A notice board that suspends paper and other objects without the need for pins or staples. The user needs simply to rub the object against the board to produce an electrostatic charge.

Japan
Tablet seed: A capsule made from water-soluble manure that contains vegetable seeds. When the tablet seed is buried in the ground, surrounding soil dissolves the capsule and chemical changes occur in the soil to promote growth.

New Zealand
Wanderest seat: A detachable seat designed to be strapped to public spaces such as a lamp post, so the elderly have a convenient resting place while walking.

Canada
Saguaro Rain Collectors: A system that stores rain water and uses a pump to create enough pressure to drive the water through a hose – allowing you to water plants without difficulty.

Canada
UVSP - Ultraviolet Sports Pack: A sports bag that uses UV light to eliminate bacteria and odour from shoes.

Canada
Red Blue CNC: An automated computer controlled machine tool that can be quickly adapted to suit different tasks. It can be programmed to mass produce the same item or component– for example parts for a set of desk draws. Red Blue is aimed at both amateur hobbyists and experts.

MEDICAL INVENTIONS
Ireland
Flo2w: A new way of delivering oxygen to a hospital patient. The device is fitted on the patient’s head using an adjustable headpiece. Flo2w is is more efficient and comfortable than a big, intimidating one-size-fits-all mask.

Switzerland
Reanimation: A resuscitation vest that compresses a patient’s chest at regular intervals and pushes the blood into the brain more effectively and evenly than with a manual cardiac massage.

US
Mantis: A portable dental chair, that collapses into a trolley so it can be used to transport heavy equipment.

UK
Air Free Intravenous infusions: A 'drip chamber' which prevents air entrainments in intravenous drip lines, reducing the chance of fatal air embolisms. Air Free gives a visual warning when an infusion has stopped in a bid to reduce the amount of time patients are not receiving their prescribed drug supply.

TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS
Switzerland
Butterfly/ Micro Scooter: Butterfly is a compact mobile micro scooter that can be folded away so it fits into a bag. When closed, dirty wheels are enclosed inside a smooth outer shell.

US
The Copenhagen Wheel: A sleek red hub in the rear wheel contains a motor, batteries and an internal gear system which helps cyclists overcome hilly terrains and long distances. It stores pedal power to power a hybrid electric motor – and can be controlled from a smart phone docked on the handlebars. Cyclists can use data to plan bike routes and see traffic and pollution levels ahead.

UK
Move-it: A simple kit of self-adhesive cardboard parts, which the user sticks on to a cardboard box, turning it into a lightweight, easy-to-use trolley. It consists of a set of wheels and two different types of handle.

Austria
BIQUATTRO: A pedal-assisted electric bike that can be turned into a tricycle when you need to carry a heavy load.

DISASTER RELIEF
US
Seakettle: A life raft that provides shelter and fresh drinking water in the event of a shipwreck. It pumps sea water up into a covered reservoir. The evaporated water then hits the top canopy and condenses, filling four pockets around the raft with fresh drinking water.

Australia
Longreach. A device that shoots emergency buoyancy aids up to 150 metres out to sea. The buoyancy aid is made of hydrophobic foam which rapidly expands once it hits the water.

New Zealand
Minotaur Fire Nozzle System: Instead of holding a fire hose, the Minotaur Dire Nozzle is strapped onto firefighters via harness. This counteracts the opposing water pressure and makes it easier to control.

Germany
Water Donut & Ultra Pipe: A pipe that purifies contaminated water with UV radiation. During sunless periods, the Ultra Pipe can filter the water through a pressure driven membrane.

UK
Pure: UV sterilization water bottle: a water bottle that filters and sterilises the water from a lake or a stream in two minutes. An outer chamber of the bottle is filled with dirty water from a lake, stream or puddle. The inner chamber plunges through the outer chamber, filtering water particles as small as four microns. Once the water is clear of sediment, it is sterilised for 90 seconds using a wind-up ultra violet bulb.

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