Looking at the people who keep the wheels of commerce turning on the Island;
features, profiles, achievements and stories with a human dimension.
STUDENT FROM IOM TAKES 3RD PLACE IN
NATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION
A university student who hails from Douglas, has clinched third place in the annual Design
Innovation in Plastics (DIP) competition after creating a re-usable syringe system, which could
result in a substantial reduction in plastic syringe wastage.
FULL RESULTS
First: Daniella Kaligorsky
– 3rd year product design
student, Technological
University Dublin.
Product name: Checkkit
- A kit for raising breast
cancer awareness
by promoting self-
examination. Second: Kai Wang – 4th
year integrated product
design student, Brunel
University. Product: POTLUCK - A
combined cooking and
storage device that
encourages and simplifies
the production of stock
cubes using avoidable food
waste. T
he result of the competition was announced at the
final awards ceremony at Painters Hall, London.
Fourth year Product Design student, Christopher Kay,
who studies at De Montfort University, won praise for his
product ‘Enviroject’, with the competition judges saying
his system could be a “game changer” if it was able to be
put into production.
Enviroject provides a safe and sustainable method of
administering injections. It is re-usable for up to 100
cycles and the syringe itself can also be recycled back
into the manufacturing process. The kit comes with a
steriliser which ensures bacterial safety of the syringe
after every cycle.
DIP is the longest running student design competition
of its type – inviting university students to produce a
new product made primarily of plastics, while giving due
consideration to sustainability and recyclability.
It is organised by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and
Mining and the Worshipful Company of Horners, and
is industry headline sponsored by Covestro, a global
polymers manufacturer.
Third: Christopher Kay –
4th year product design
student, De Montfort
University. Product name: Enviroject
– a re-usable syringe
system, providing a safe
and sustainable method of
administering medications.
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This year DIP set the students the challenging brief
of ‘Healthy body – healthy world’ inviting ideas for
improving health and wellbeing, with a product which
could demonstrate longevity and sustainability.
Afterwards the judges highlighted the huge amount
of work Christopher had put into his project, and his
professional presentation.
Technical engineer, Mike Stuart, formerly of Covestro,
said: “If this project went into production it could be a
real game changer when it comes to reducing plastic
waste for single use syringes. The investment involved
in getting it up and running along with any potential
changes in systems to accommodate it would need to be
overcome, and Chris acknowledges this.”
Chairman of judges, Richard Brown, of RJG Technologies,
added: “Chris gave due consideration on how the
concept would fit into the ‘circular economy’ and had also
considered alternative markets. It was well researched
with a logical approach taken to tackle a current problem.”
A delighted Christopher Kay said: “It means a great deal
to me to have got this far in the competition and has
been a fantastic experience! I have a keen interest in
working within the medical design sector, which is why I
aimed to develop a medical product during my final year
of studies. I’m delighted that I’ve already secured a new
role as a design engineer at Strix Technology, the world
leader in kettle controls, and hopefully there will be more
opportunities throughout my future career as a result of
the recognition that the DIP award has given me.”
Christopher was among five finalists, and an original
field of 149 entries from all over the UK and Ireland. He
will receive a cash prize and short work placement with
one of the competition sponsors: Brightworks; Innovate
Product Design; PDD and RJG Technologies. He was
also given special recognition for his innovation by
industry headline sponsor, Covestro, and will join the
winner in a trip to Germany to visit them at their global
headquarters. Christopher’s product was also shortlisted in the finals
of the 2019 Royal Society of Arts student design awards
– a global curriculum and competition for emerging
designers which has been running since 1924.