James Dyson Award Winner’s Invention Designed To Improve Safety And Sustainable Practices Within Healthcare

The James Dyson Award celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers, who think differently and create products that work better.

Tens of thousands of glass medication vials are disposed of in sharps bins each year in hospital wards across the health system. The vials could be recycled but generally end up in landfill.

Healthcare professionals responsible for opening glass ampoules and vials are at risk of hand strain and injury.

11 September 2023, New Zealand: This year’s national James Dyson Award winner is Jack Pugh, a recent Massey University graduate, with his invention ‘Cap Snap’, a medical multi-tool for crimp seal cap removal and ampoule breaking.

Tens of thousands of glass medication vials are disposed of in sharps bins each year in New Zealand hospital wards, requiring autoclaving before landfill, an energy-intensive process. These vials could be recycled, but post-processing barriers exist. Separating aluminium caps from glass vials with makeshift tools can result in hand strain while opening glass ampoules poses a risk due to sharp edges potentially causing injury.

Jack Pugh, inventor of Cap Snap and National James Dyson Award Winner 2024, commented:

“The motivation for my design was to make life easier for busy healthcare professionals who work with medications each day and are at risk. I wanted my project to develop an outcome of genuine use to them.”

Cap Snap: The invention

Cap Snap aims to facilitate two things: safety and sustainability. This innovative tool combines medicine bottle opening and ampoule snapping into one easy-to-use design. Simply adjust the jaws to fit the bottle cap, and use it like a regular bottle opener. For ampoules, insert the head, press the slider, and safely release any broken glass. The intuitive design, with a clear viewport and D-ring for safe pressure, makes it simple and efficient to use, reducing the need for multiple tools. It improves safety for those using the tool and it helps separate each component of the medication vial more easily: the aluminium cap, rubber bung and glass to reduce barriers to improved waste management practices.

The Inventor

22-year-old Kiwi inventor, Jack Pugh, studied Industrial Design at Massey University and Cap Snap was his final year design project. Jack consulted with healthcare professionals from the Wellington Regional Hospital Intensive Care Sustainability Group who handle medications. They shared their concerns about safety and recycling. So inspired by his research project, after graduating in early 2024, Jack joined the Wellington and Hutt Valley-based Improvement and Innovation team, a part of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

Winning the national leg of the James Dyson Award will inject $10,200 NZD into Jack’s project to support next steps in the development and commercialisation of Cap Snap.

In response to winning the National James Dyson Award, Jack commented:

“It is so thrilling to be selected as this year’s National winner, as it’s a formal acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication I’ve put into this project so far. The James Dyson Award is held in high regard for Massey University Industrial Design students and so this is a huge milestone for me.”

This year’s New Zealand entries were judged by Sayali Pendharkar, Deputy Chief Science Advisor for the Ministry of Health New Zealand, Peter Griffin, Science and Technology Journalist with more than 20 years experience and Craig Douglas, Head of Operations at Dyson, based in Singapore.

Sayali Pendharkar, Deputy Chief Science Advisor for the Ministry of Health New Zealand and James Dyson Award New Zealand Judge, says: "Cap Snap directly addresses a significant health and safety concern prevalent in clinical wards, particularly for health professionals such as nurses. This innovative tool not only enhances efficiency—an increasingly critical need in today’s healthcare environment—but also contributes to sustainability by improving the recyclability of various medical waste components, such as aluminium lids. This could mark a meaningful step forward in reducing waste within the healthcare system."

Cap Snap will progress to the next stage of the James Dyson Award, with the international Top 20 shortlist to be announced on 16th October, selected by Dyson engineers, and the global winners on 13th November, chosen by Sir James Dyson.

The Runners Up

Alta

Problem: Hospital tables for patients are ill-suited to their needs. They’re unstable, oversized and difficult to use, stripping patients of independence and frustrating medical staff. Common complaints include water being spilt, discomfort when eating meals, wheel snagging and the inability to fold the tray away when not needed.

Solution: Alta re-thinks the hospital table into a highly functional, user-orientated piece of hospital equipment. Eating and drinking is simpler due to the Alta jug design and ability to bring the tray closer to the patient; comfort is improved due to arm rests, wheel covers prevent cables from getting stuck and when not in use, Alta can be folded away.

Hindsight

Problem: Rural New Zealand roads are extremely dangerous for runners due to their narrow, winding nature, often without sidewalks or shoulders. Staying safe from cars and other rear-facing threats while running is of concern to runners.

Solution: Hindsight utilises an ultrasonic sensor to detect threats to runners from behind, and then communicates the proximity and speed of the coming threat to the user through a grid of vibrational motors integrated into the lower section of the shoulder mount. This haptic feedback allows the runner to use headphones while still receiving alerts. Its lightweight nature makes it easy to deploy on a backpack.

James Dyson Award

The James Dyson Award is an international design competition which inspires and celebrates the next generation of design engineers. The Award operates across 29 countries this year and has supported over 400 problem-solving inventions with over £1m in prize money. It is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Sir James Dyson’s engineering education charity.

© Scoop Media