Water pump and manoeuverable shopping trolley up for Dyson award

The James Dyson Award, which runs in 18 countries, is open to product design, industrial design and engineering students or recent graduates and tasks them with developing problem-solving inventions.

The overall international winner receives £10 000 to develop their design and £10000 for their university, while runners-up and national winners receive £2000 and £1000 prizes respectively.

The deadline for entries is 2 August, the national finalists will be named on 27 September and the international winner will be announced on 8 November.

Among the UK entries so far are the Flexi-Pipe Pump, developed by David Hutton from the University of Bath. This is a small, lightweight water pump powered by compressed air from a bicycle pump.

Amber Thiara from the University of Cambridge has developed the Easy Shopping Trolley, which uses two fixed wheels and handlebar brake to improve manoeuverability.

Mengxi Lin, from the Academy of Art University in the US, has created a design for a digital wallet, that features one digital card, with users able to select multiple functions through a user interface.

And Renata Hidajat, from the University of Technology Sydney, in Australia, has developed the Drum Roll beer keg-lowering system, which claims to make it easier to deliver kegs to pubs.

James Dyson says, ‘Put faith in frustrations and solve the problems that cause them. We’re looking for people who rather than accept a problem and make do, design a simple and effective solution.’