James Dyson announces award, Rs 26,00,000 prize money to be given; here's how to apply

The James Dyson Award is back with its second season, inviting entries from students and recent graduates of engineering and design to show their problem solving inventions on a global stage. The requirement is to design or create something which solves a problem, big or small. Last year, three Indian entries made it to the international top 20 shortlist, with Asish Mohandas, Creator, Maattam being recognised as the national winner for India in 2017.  This year, the international winner will gain global exposure through the competition, and will receive Rs 26,00,000 as prize money to develop their idea.

James Dyson says: “Young engineers and designers have perspective and unbridled intelligence that makes them incredibly adept at problem solving. The Award champions our next generation of inventors and will propel them towards future success.”

Registration, eligibility and deadline

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must be, or have been within the last four years, enrolled for at least one semester in an undergraduate or graduate engineering or design programme at a university in a country or region chosen to participate in the James Dyson Award.

In the case of team entries, all members of the team must be, or have been within the last four years, enrolled for at least one semester in an undergraduate or graduate program at a university in a country or region chosen to participate in the James Dyson Award.

How to apply

Candidates can apply through the ‘James Dyson Award website’.

Entrants should explain each and every detail about their invention. They should submit imagery to support their application. The best entrants should be able to show evidence of physical prototyping as well as sketches and CAD.

Last date to register: July 20

Past winners have sought to tackle overfishing, sustainability in the clothing industry and food waste. Last year’s award went to the sKan, a low-cost, early detection melanoma skin cancer device, engineered to prevent misdiagnosis. The sKan team says: “Winning the James Dyson Award was an exciting opportunity. The media exposure we received around the world opened many doors for us.”

Last year’s India Winner was Maattam- a retrofit system for transferring patients between different rest units such as a bed or an operating table. It eliminates occurrence of secondary injuries for the patients, and reduces manual labour for the workers involved, during patient transfer.

Asish Mohandas, Creator, Maattam says, “Winning the award has provided me with the right encouragement to take this journey forward and has led me to pursue a fellowship focusing on medical product design at AIIMS.”
News Source (Indian Express)