The James Dyson Award 2022 Is Open For Entries, With Record Prize Money For (national) Winners.

• Are you a budding inventor? Get your idea off the ground and submit to the James Dyson Award
• National winners will now receive NZD$9,800, alongside high-profile recognition for their idea
• Global winners could win prizes up to NZD$59,000
• Head to www.jamesdysonaward.org to find out more and apply
• Hear from founder James Dyson and successful past winners in the Award’s new launch video

The James Dyson Award, an annual student design competition run by Dyson’s charity, is now open and accepting submissions from young inventors. After receiving an impressive array of entries in recent years, the Award is increasing its prize money to support the crucial first steps of entrepreneurship. This year’s National winners, to be announced in September, will receive NZD$9,800 towards developing their invention. To date the competition has awarded more than 285 inventions with prize money.

Since 2005, the James Dyson Award has challenged entrepreneurial undergraduates and recent graduates of engineering and design, to ‘Design something that solves a problem’. Purposely broad and open-ended, the brief tasks students to take on big global problems. Past winners have found solutions to plastic recycling accessibility, excessive blood loss from knife wounds, and improving at-home medical diagnostics. Sir James Dyson chooses the competition’s global winners; they receive vital funding and high-profile recognition – key first steps to take their ideas into real life practical application.

Sir James Dyson, Founder and Chief Engineer at Dyson, said: "For me the importance of the James Dyson Award is to solve a problem intelligently – for young inventors to question things, challenge things. I truly believe young people want to change the world and in that they should be encouraged. The future is their world. The Award gives them the confidence and a platform to pursue their solutions. In fact, 70% of our past international winners are following up and commercialising their inventions. To future entrants, I look forward to reviewing your radical and game-changing ideas. Good luck!”

What can winners expect?

1. Prize money. National winners receive NZD$9,800 and global winners up to NZD$59,000 to put towards the next phase of their invention’s development.
2. Media attention. Winners receive interest from the media, public and industry professionals when the James Dyson Award announces its winners, opening doors and catalysing conversations to support product development and networking.
3. Past winner support. This year the Award launched a winners’ network for those commercialising their inventions. Events and networking opportunities for past winners of the Award to connect, share experiences and consider inter-winner mentorship.

The past two years saw a record-breaking number of entries. Recognising the role that engineers and scientists play in our future, James Dyson chose three global winners for the first time in 2021, each receiving NZD$59,000 in prize money.

This year, there will be global prizes available. But first, each participating country and region will award a National winner (NZD$9,800) and two National runners-up. The National winners are chosen by an external panel in collaboration with a Dyson engineer. This year, entries in the New Zealand market will be judged by:

• Dr Yvonne Anderson: Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Department of Paediatrics
• Emma Lewisham: Founder of Emma Lewisham Skincare
• Gosia Piatek: Founder and creative director of Kowtow
• Maisie Panoho: Designer and National James Dyson Award Winner 2021

In 2022, the Award launches for the first time in Thailand and Turkey. Those that win a National accolade proceed to the International shortlist and awarding stages, where James Dyson selects his global winners.

What makes a good entry?

The best inventions are often the simplest, providing clear and intelligent solutions to real-world problems. Last year’s National winner was Maisie Panoho, her winning invention Hae Hae, a child friendly inhaler with a game-changing design that intends to make life easier for children with asthma. You can read more about Maisie’s entry here: Kiwi reinvents asthma inhaler with child-friendly design.

“Throughout my life, I have seen my family and friends struggle from asthma. In my research, I found that smaller hands find the inhaler awkward to hold and children can have more difficulty trying to trigger the device. Hae Hae is different to anything else currently on the market as there is nothing that caters specifically for children. This product has been designed to be easy to use and understand, and ideally provide better outcomes for children with asthma. It’s a privilege to be awarded this year’s James Dyson Award national winner. It is a great acknowledgement of all the time, passion and hard work I’ve committed to solving this problem,” said Maisie Panoho.

"This device has a game-changing design that could save lives," said Sir Ray Avery, from the James Dyson Award judges panel. "It's a clinical problem that has a worldwide application and could easily be produced and rolled out globally to benefit children everywhere."

Get to know what Dyson engineers are looking for in a James Dyson Award submission. 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 further investment and opportunities for them to develop their ideas. The 2014 International winner, mOm incubators, provides more flexible options for neonatal care; after successfully passing all external testing, it’s now used in three UK NHS trusts and has so far supported more than 20 children’s lives. Ambitious plans are now in place for mOm to help increase access to neonatal care around the world. 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 sanitiser 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.

Stay up to date with the James Dyson Award.

Website: https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/

Instagram: @jamesdysonaward

Newsroom:https://www.dyson.co.uk/newsroom/overview/news/march-2022/2022-james-dyson-award-open-for-entries

Notes to editors

The James Dyson Foundation

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 competition has supported over 285 inventions with prize money, and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, an engineering-education charity funded by Dyson profits.

The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Foundation’s work encourage aspiring engineers and problem solvers, to apply their knowledge and discover new ways to improve lives through technology. To date, the James Dyson Foundation has contributed £140m to boundary-breaking concepts in education and other charitable causes.

To date, the James Dyson Foundation has contributed £140m to boundary-breaking concepts in education and other charitable causes, including £12m to Imperial College London to create the Dyson School of Design Engineering, and £8m to Cambridge University to create the Dyson Centre for Engineering Design and the James Dyson Building.

At school level, the James Dyson Foundation offers robotics workshops, led by Dyson engineers, and provides free educational resources. These include its most recent launch, Engineering Solutions: Air Pollution: introducing young people to air pollution and engineering’s role in finding solutions.

They support medical research and the local community in Malmesbury where Dyson’s UK offices are based. Last summer, the Dyson Cancer Centre at Royal United Hospitals in Bath broke ground, and the Foundation continues to support the Race Against Dementia Dyson Fellow, Dr Claire Durrant, in accelerating finding better treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

The Foundation has a website, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Recent past winners

• 2021 International winner – HOPES (Singapore)

A device for pain-free, at-home eye pressure testing, opening up access to glaucoma testing, by students of the National University of Singapore.

• 2021 Sustainability winner – Plastic Scanner (Netherlands)

A low-cost, handheld device to identify plastic for recycling, by Jerry de Vos from TU Delft.

• 2021 National Winner – Maisie Panoho (New Zealand)

Hae Hae, designed by Massey University graduate Maisie Panoho, is an inhaler designed to make it easier and more effective for children to take their medicine. Learning of common problems with conventional devices from family and friends who suffer asthma, Maisie focused on repairing the broken relationship between the inhaler and spacer, while introducing a display for useful information and a reward system.

• 2020 National Winner – Voronoi Runners (New Zealand)

Made using only 100% biodegradable materials, Voronoi Runners offer a solution to the large amounts of waste impacting the environment from the footwear industry. Eliminating adhesives allowing the materials to be separated and composted individually.

• 2019 International Top 20 – Nah Yeah Buoy (New Zealand)

The “Nah, Yeah buoy” is an adaptive system for water safety designed to identify rip currents near beaches, visualise their locations and movements, and provide interactive alerts and warnings for lifeguards and water users.

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 and a Dyson engineer. 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 his international winners.

The prize

• International winners, chosen by Sir James Dyson, awarded up to NZD$59,000.
• Sustainability Winner receives NZD$59,000.
• International runners-up receive NZD$9,800.
• Each National winner receives NZD$9,800.

The deadline to apply: midnight PST on 6 July 2022.

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

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. 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 eligible to enter the award.

Further FAQs can be found on the James Dyson Award website.

Download imagery/video here.

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