Six talented design students drew praise from the panel of industry judges when they presented their concepts in the final round of judging for Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) 2025 on Friday 9th of May.
DIP
DIP is the longest-running plastics design competition of its kind for university undergraduates in the UK and Ireland. Supported by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and the Worshipful Company of Horners, it is industry headline sponsored by Covestro.
Answering this year’s brief of ‘Health and Wellbeing: a product for the self-care agenda', the final six students brought models or prototypes of their products. They had time to explain the research and reasoning behind their ideas, the selection of plastics, sustainability and how their product would work, as well as other important considerations such as manufacturing and costs.
After the tense but fascinating day of presentations and questions, the judges commented on the rising standard of entries, the quality of research and the feasibility of the ideas.
Chairman of judges, Richard Brown, said, “All our finalists had improved their products since submitting them for the preliminary judging round in April and receiving feedback from ourselves. It was also evident that the training course they had been given at Sumitomo Demag, as part of their prize, had influenced their thinking, particularly sharpening their focus on selection of plastic materials and method of manufacture.
He continues, “They had thought very carefully about the suitability of their products for their end users and as a result, we believe a number of their products could have the potential to be commercialised.”
The results will be announced at the DIP award ceremony on Friday, June 20, at IOM3’s headquarters in London. Students are competing for a top prize of £1,000. There are supporting cash prizes for all finalists, and work placements or training courses with leading design and industry sponsors, who include Brightworks, Innovate Design, and PDD.