Engineering competition James Dyson Award open for submissions; up to $48,000 to be won

Submissions are now open for the James Dyson Award, an annual engineering competition run by the James Dyson Foundation.

Aiming to nurture the next generation of engineers and young inventors, the competition is seeking submissions that tackle a global problem, from environmental to medical issues.

The competition is open to students or recent graduates from Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia who are in the product design, industrial design and engineering fields. 

Interested participants have until Jul 19 to sign up for the competition. They will need to include an explanation of what their invention is, how it works and the development process. 

Applications with evidence of prototyping and supporting images as well as a video stand a better chance of progressing to the next rounds, said the organisers. 

Winners and finalists from each country will be announced on Sep 13, with winners receiving an $8,000 prize. The overall winner of the competition will be announced on Nov 15, along with a sustainability winner – the project that addresses a sustainability issue or has incorporated sustainability into the design. 

Both the overall and sustainability winners will receive $48,000 each to further develop their inventions.

Previous runs of this competition have seen successful teams coming from Singapore. These include 2022 national winners Rehabit, with a set of four tools for upper limb rehabilitation, and Rollerball Itch Relief, which is designed to help eczema patients cope with the itch.

In 2021, three students from the National University of Singapore became the global winners for their invention, HOPES – Home Eye Pressure E-skin Sensor.

The wearable biomedical device provides glaucoma sufferers a convenient way to check their eye pressure at home, relieving them of painful procedures, while allowing them to seek medical help early to minimise future symptoms.

Since it started in 2005, the James Dyson Award has awarded 390 inventions with prize money, and over 70 per cent of past global winners are commercialising their inventions.