The James Dyson Award is given to engineers all over the world who make designs to solve global problems.
This year’s Australian winner, Macaron won for her invention of a smart tape measuring device which helps the visually impaired.
Macaron was the brainchild of four Queensland University of Technology students, Jake Dean, Woo-Sung Jung, Yuma Decaux, and Weng Hou Chan. They will receive £2,000 (over $,3500 AUD) for the design project.
Here are some of winners from the first placer to the runner-ups:
The project was inspired by one of the team members who unfortunately is blind and unable to make renovations in his house because of the difficulties in seeing the marks on the tape measure device.
Macaron can measure objects without the need to read the markings and connects via Bluetooth to a mobile device. Users can use the app to pre-program the object and distance to be measured. There is also a voice feature available in the settings for convenience!
This is the world’s first alpine survival tool that can convert snow into drinking water by human power. A litre drink bottle melts snow by igniting heat through friction and pulverising the snow through a spinning blade.
The Indra Mosquito Zapper is an insect control device made up of recycled materials. It is powered by renewable energy like solar and wind. The device creates electricity, zapping and killing mosquitoes.
If fully charged, the stored electric energy can create light and through its USB port, power for any gadget.
