Calling Budding Designers, Engineers and Inventors

Calling Budding Designers, Engineers and Inventors

2011 James Dyson Award Open

2011 registration for New Zealand’s long running James Dyson Award opens today. The award challenges young engineers and designers to develop problem solving inventions. Previous winners of the award have tackled problems ranging from a buoyancy aid inspired by a grenade launcher, to a kitchen tap which can tackle a fire in your home.

Design students, engineers and designers within four years of graduation are invited to enter their end of year projects or other inventions they have developed since graduating. The award, run in eighteen countries, celebrates ingenuity and creativity with the overall international winner receiving £10,000 to develop their invention and £10,000 for their university.

James Dyson, the British inventor who designed the world’s first bagless vacuum cleaner, the Dyson bladeless fan, and the Dyson Airblade hand dryer that can dry hands in ten seconds, 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.”

Massey University student, Julian Schloemer, last year won the national award with his design, Lucid, a wakeboard binding with an automatic release mechanism designed to be safer than current bindings which hold feet onto a board even after a fall, increasing the chance of injury.

Previous New Zealand entries have included a hydration blanket for stranded whales, an energy saving nebuliser for respiratory patients, and a practical yet stylish skateboarding shoe with a replaceable outer shell and washable inner.

Designers have until 2 August 2011 to submit footage, images and sketches of their ideas to www.jamesdysonaward.org, along with stories detailing their design process and inspiration.

The New Zealand James Dyson Award winner will receive:

Return airfares to the UK, NZD$3,000 spending money and accommodation in London.

Meetings with top UK design companies and a visit Dyson’s London office.

$3,000 legal or business advice from Auckland firm Farry.Co.

An official fee prize package from IPONZ tailored to the winner’s immediate intellectual property needs.

A year’s membership to the Designers Institute of New Zealand.

All New Zealand entries will also qualify for the international James Dyson Award, with GBP£10,000 going to the winning student or team, another GBP£10,000 to the current or former student’s university department and an opportunity to visit Dyson’s engineering facilities in either the UK or Malaysia.

The national winner will be announced in mid-August and the international winner, on 8 November.

Award partner, British Council New Zealand, says the judges will look for interpersonal qualities as well as talent in design.

Ingrid Leary, Country Director, British Council NZ, says; "The winner has to be someone who can stand up and sell New Zealand creativity to Britain. Yes their design skills will be all-important, but the judges are looking for someone who is capable of articulating their vision for a product -- someone who will impress the high-powered British design bosses whom they will get to meet on their winner's tour of the UK."

The James Dyson Award in New Zealand was set up in 2001 by Avery Robinson Ltd - distributors of Dyson in New Zealand. The New Zealand Award is hosted in association with the British Council New Zealand, the Designers’ Institute of NZ, Farry.Co Law and IPONZ.

To enter, or for more information about the award visit www.jamesdysonaward.org

ENDS

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