Above image: Alex Goad’s nine-unit MARS structure, which won the James Dyson national award last year for its ability to aid in the repair of damaged reef systems.
The James Dyson Award, run by the foundation of the same name, is an international student design award running in 18 countries. Open to students studying at a university level and recent graduates in the product design, industrial design and engineering fields, the competition asks applicants to design an object that addresses a societal issue.
“Each year the James Dyson Award sees truly remarkable solutions to real-life problems approached from different angles. No problem is too big and the simplest solutions are the best,” James Dyson says, urging entrants to “use the award as a stepping-stone to take inventions towards commercialisation.”
Last year, Australia’s national winner, Alex Goad, a 24-year-old Monash University graduate, was inspired by the current damage to iconic Great Barrier Reef to create MARS, a 3D printed artificial reef model which helps to speedily regenerate reef habitats. Alongside this was the international winner, 23-year-old James Roberts from the UK, whose winning invention MOM – an inflatable incubator for the developing world, was judged to be both cost effective and innovative.
This award enables young engineers and scientists worldwide to develop their innovative problem-solving ideas. Celebrating ingenuity, creativity and sustainable engineering, entrants are encouraged to design with the environment in mind.
Entries close next Thursday, 2 July with the national winners and finalists to be announced from 27 July throughout August.