The James Dyson Award, which chooses the most innovative and useful technological idea, has been given to Australian Samuel Adeloju for his Buoyancy Bazooka design. The device fires a buoyancy aid up to 150 metres in to the sea and could potentially save thousands of lives every year in the UK and abroad.
The winning design was chosen from a shortlist of 15 and was hotly tipped as being the favourite to win. The Buoyancy Bazooka is more than just your average lifebelt pipe bomb too. The buoyancy aid is made from a hydrophobic foam which expands on contact with water and this enables the aid to be fired further before it is fulyl deployed.
Once the aid is fully operational in the water it enables stranded swimmers or anybody else in need of help to stay afloat for considerably longer periods of time. It is also equipped with flares making it easier for search and rescue teams to locate it.
Samuel Adeloju will receive a £10,000 prize for his innovative design and so too will the engineering faculty at the University of New South Wales. Adeloju will also be given the unique opportunity to visit the Dyson research, design, and development centre to learn more about the design process from Dyson engineers.
Rather than sitting back on the result, Samuel aims to use the prize money in order to develop his invention and is already in talks with two major Australian organisations about mass producing the product. Surf Life Saving Australia and Westpac Rescue have expressed an interset in seeing the bazooka, which was developed after Samuel learned about the technology behind rocket propelled grenades during army reserve training, be put into mainstream use.
You can see more details about the awards at the www.jamesdysonaward.org website.
