This year’s six student finalists of the Design Innovation in Plastics competition (DIP) have taken an exemplary approach to their work, according to the head judge, in his summing up at the final judging stage.
The students presented their products to the judging panel at the final of the competition on Friday 28th May, in a nerve-racking but exciting day for all. Commenting on the day, chairman of judges, Richard Brown, said all six finalists had improved their products since the preliminary judging stage, six weeks ago.
“We could see they took on board our feedback and enhanced their final designs,” he said. “With such creativity on display, this made it very challenging for the judges to separate them. In particular, it was clear the students had been very thorough in their research in order to meet the criteria of the brief ‘Design for a Natural World’.”
The result of the judging will be announced at the DIP award ceremony on Friday, July 02. Invitations will be sent out for the online ceremony, which will also be accessible via the DIP website, nearer the time.
DIP is supported by the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining, and the Worshipful Company of Horners, and headline sponsored by Covestro. DIP is unique in that it offers a short industry placement to all six finalists with one of the competition sponsors, Brightworks, Innovate Product Design, PDD and RJG Technologies, as well as cash prizes.
The six finalists and their products are:
Pol Blanch – Brunel University
D-Shield: a semi-translucent foldable shield that minimises spray drift, blocking pesticides from drifting during application.
Christopher Farrell – Technological University Dublin
ClearWater: a handheld water quality testing device for the presence of chemicals in water, due to run-off from land, providing on the spot testing for several chemicals in one go.
Euan Gibson-Smith – Glasgow School of Art
ReCreate: a monthly educational service enabling children aged 7-11 to convert plastic waste into recyclable outdoor products.
Pradip Gurung – Brunel University
Stratus: a wildlife collar specially designed to prevent illegal poaching of big cats.
Finlay McEwan – Glasgow School of Art
Equipoise: a reusable plastic gas canister for outdoor cooking, with a stand designed for stability on rough terrain.
Andrei Petrar – London South Bank University
AER Drone: a fully autonomous drone which can be deployed in an emergency to alert rescue services.