James Dyson Awards

Flying economy class can be about as enjoyable as being stuffed into a left luggage locker, but Malaysia-based engineering student Alireza Yaghoubi has come up with a new economy class air passenger seat design that departs radically from the one that’s been used since the 1960s. Winner of the Malaysian national James Dyson Award, the AirGo concept aims to make seats less expensive, easier to maintain and as comfortable as the leather and free drinks before take-off jobs up in first class.  Read More

For the past month, the judges have been casting a discerning eye over the 15 finalists of the 2012 James Dyson Award and they’ve now made what no doubt was a difficult decision. Taking out the major prize is Dan Watson, who will receive £10,000 (US$16,000) for his SafetyNet system that tackles the problem of overfishing by providing escape exits for juvenile and non-target fish caught up in commercial fishing nets.  Read More

This year’s James Dyson Award provided potential entrants with a pretty broad brief – develop a problem solving invention. The international jury has now whittled down the 501 entries received from university students hailing from 18 countries around the world to 15 finalists. We take a look at the projects still in the running to claim a slice of the £20,000+ (US$32,385+) prize pool up for grabs.  Read More

The global James Dyson Awards continues to provide a stage on which young inventors can strut their stuff. The international judges are now reviewing this year’s entries in the lead up to the announcement of the 15 finalists on October 18. One of the entries under consideration is the Crawl from Kieran John. It is a pneumatically powered motorized platform designed to improve the efficiency of power line installation and servicing.  Read More

Develop a problem solving invention. That's the straight-to-the-point brief for the 2012 James Dyson Award which is now calling on entries from design students around the world. Entries close on August 2, with the international winner to be announced on November 8.  Read More

Young Melbourne-based inventor Edward Linacre has won the 2011 James Dyson Award, making it the second year in a row where the prestigious prize has gone to an Aussie. Linacre stole this year's competition with his Airdrop irrigation concept that collects water from thin air. The Swinburne University of Technology design graduate was driven to transform an ancient cooling technique into a new sub-surface irrigation system, following the enduring Australian drought that saw high levels of farmer suicide along Australia's Murray- Darling Basin.  Read More

The James Dyson Awards for young inventors are always a treasure trove of fresh ideas and up-and-coming innovators - so we caught up with 8 of the Australian finalists and got them each to deliver us a 2-minute 'elevator pitch' explaining their designs and the inspiration behind them. The videos after the jump highlight some of our favourite entries for this year's prize, including the winners. See if you can guess which of these young contestants took the prizes!  Read More

Industrial Design student Justine Smith has looked to new technology for a solution to one of the most common ailments in the world today – chronic back pain. The result is Spinovo – a concept smart clothing product that uses modular packs to treat pain through heating, cooling, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapies as well as incorporating bend sensors to ensure the wearer maintains the correct posture.  Read More

When he set out on a trip to Cambodia in 2008, Industrial Design student Jonathan Liow had no idea it was going to be a life-changing experience. Upon seeing the poverty and poor living conditions in that country, however, he decided that he wanted to build things that could help people. After hearing about the need for cheap and effective water purification in Africa, he proceeded to create the Solarball for his graduate project at Australia's Monash University. The ball is reportedly capable of producing 3 liters (about 3 quarts) of drinkable water per day, using nothing but polluted water and sunlight.  Read More