Entries are now open for the James Dyson Award, inviting engineering and design undergraduates and recent graduates to ‘design something that solves a problem’.
The Award saw a record number of entries in 2020 and introduced a new sustainability prize, which was awarded to AuREUS invented by Carvey Ehren Maigue from the Philippines.
In 2021, there will be two $52,000 global prizes – the international winner and sustainability winner chosen by Sir James Dyson. Each country and region will first award a national winner with prize money of $3,500 and two national runners-up who proceed to the international awarding stages.
Australian entries in 2021 will be judged by experienced industry figures including leading engineering executive and Olympian, Jane Waldburger, award-winning journalist and leading commentator on science and technology, Rae Johnston, and Reef Design Lab founder and 2014 James Dyson Award Australian national winner, Alex Goad.
Past winners have found solutions to renewable energy generation, new forms of sustainable plastics, and medical screenings. The 2020 international winner, The Blue Box (pictured above) is an at-home breast cancer detection device that diagnoses patients using an AI algorithm and urine sample.
“Young people want to change the world and the Award supports them to do that giving crucial funding, validation and a platform to launch their ideas. They are remarkably successful with 65% of international winners commercialising their ideas, against a backdrop where 90% of start-ups fail. I will be looking for radical inventions that challenge and question established thinking,” James Dyson said.