Whether it is a pat on the back or a shiny gold star, no matter our age, we all enjoy being
rewarded for our hard work and dedication inside the classroom. But what if that reward translated
to $16,000 cold hard cash and an additional $16,000 given to your respective university? Yes, my thoughts
exactly. Now, we’re talking. This November, one deserving college-age student – or team of students – will be
selected from a pool of applicants as the 8th recipient of the annual James Dyson Award.
The James Dyson Foundation is the charitable arm of Dyson. It was created to pull down the curtain for young
people when thinking about engineering, invention, and technology. They do this by running workshops across
the globe where students solve engineering challenges in practical, hands-on ways.
The James Dyson Award is an international student design award that runs in 18 countries. What are they
looking for? Simply to design and invent something that solves a problem.
The James Dyson Foundation will award the winner and their university’s engineering department for their
achievements in the craft of design. As an international award, the James Dyson
Award encourages students from all over the globe to participate as entrants.
One example of a previous entry is 2010 winner, Christine Outram. Christine and her team of MIT students
invented the Copenhagen Wheel, a wheel that turns a regular bike into a smart, electric hybrid. This techedout
wheel allows riders to capture the energy dissipated when breaking and cycling so that it may be saved for
later use when a boost is needed. Like most cutting edge technology, the Copenhagen Wheel is controlled
through a rider’s smart phone center. But, packed inside the sleek, bright red hub is a veritable swiss army knife’s
worth of electronic gadgets and novel functions. “Original ideas and rigorously engineered projects
will attract the attention of the judges,” says James Dyson, the noted inventor and ceo of dyson. “I challenge
applicants to think big and use the award as a springboard for your idea.”
Previous winners have solved issues from everyday energy solutions to affordable prosthetic limbs – each an
original way to answer a problem, big or small. Last year’s winner, Edward Linacre, from swinburne
university of technology in Melbourne, Australia, invented Airdrop, an ingenious device able to tackle the
enormous problems caused by drought. Airdrop is a low cost, self-powered and easy to install solution to the
problems of growing crops in arid regions. One of this year’s entrants that we found particularly
interesting is the Independent Wheelchair Assist (IWA). A group of students have a new take on an old piece of technology – the wheelchair.
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