RMIT University’s Aaron Nguyen has been named this year’s James Dyson Award national winner for designing the LUNA Modular AFO – an Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) system for children with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) that adapts to the users modularly increasing comfort and product life.

Having grown up with two relatives with HSP, Nguyen became aware of the problems caused by current orthoses provided to users. The rigid thermoplastic forms used to create current AFOs are intentionally tight fitting to provide optimal support. However, with growing users, especially children, it often leads to bruising, blistering and cuts, due to systematic flaws in the fabrication process.

The LUNA Modular AFO is designed to adapt and conform to users extending the life of the product to several years rather than six to eight months. The invention uses semi-flexible plastics to soften sensitive areas like bone protrusions. The bioplastic is able to be recycled and reused.

Speaking to his invention, Nguyen said, “The LUNA Modular AFO consists of two components and as the child grows, the LUNA Surface can be interchanged and form-fitted using 3D scanning. The digitisation of this process removes flaws and results in more consistently accurate orthoses.

“Personally, I think that engineers and designers should bear the burden of figuring out how to make everyday life more sustainable, and that the end user shouldn’t have to compromise for a more sustainable option.

“I always saw the James Dyson Award as a competition for the best up-and-coming designers and engineers showing their solutions and skills, and I wanted to challenge myself by entering this year. I feel honoured to be recognised for my invention and to help solve this important problem for children.” 

Runners up in this year’s competition were Rinse Repeat, a compact home wastewater recycling system that halves water use in front loading washing machines and SASS: Stand Alone Sun-Flow System, a sustainable and stand-alone water treatment system.

Rinse Repeat was designed by Tim Lutton of RMIT University as an alternative to traditional home wastewater recycling systems used in regional parts of the country, which are often inaccessible due to their size, complexity, and cost.

Rinse Repeat challenges this by framing wastewater recycling in the context of a simple home appliance. By only targeting the cleanest half of one specific wastewater source – the washing machine – Rinse Repeat can achieve efficient treatment with minimal processes, while remaining highly compact.

Designed with a ‘plug and play’ solution, it can be installed quickly, and without the need to alter existing plumbing. By overcoming traditional entry barriers, Rinse Repeat dramatically improves the accessibility and feasibility of widespread home wastewater recycling. 

SASS: Stand Alone Sun-Flow System was created by Mostafa Dehghani, Clare Carew and Mahdi Naseri of Monash University

According to the United Nations, by 2025, more than 300 zones around the world will have water conflicts. There is a lack of sustainable and economical methods to treat persistent organic pollutants, especially for low resource settings. The available processes in the market are either not efficient enough or produce a secondary pollutant that needs to be disposed of in the environment. 

SASS is a sustainable and stand-alone water treatment system, requiring only sunlight to operate, which can be used for the removal of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from water resources. It is developed to be a low cost, sustainable and user-friendly solution to treat polluted water.

As national winner of the James Dyson Award, Nguyen will receive AU$3,500 to go towards his project. All three finalists will move on to the international stage where a Top 20 will be selected by a panel of Dyson engineers.

The international winner and sustainability winner will be handpicked by Sir James Dyson and announced on 17 November 2021, with the international winner receiving AU$55,000 and AU$9,500 for their university, and the sustainability winner receiving AU$55,000.