Steve Painter with the six finalists

The theme of the 2010 Design Innovation in Plastics competition, ‘Refreshing Design’, challenged student designers and design engineers to create a product that addressed economic and environmental concerns yet was innovative and ‘refreshing’. Interpretations of the theme could include, for example, a novel solution to an existing problem, saving overall lifetime costs, or a modification of a current product targeted at a new market, allowing an item to be rejuvenated rather than discarded.

The winning entries tackled issues associated with water conservation, sustainable fishing, composting, sports injuries, giving up smoking, and carrying back-breaking loads on building sites. Rob Holdway, a competition judge and Director of Giraffe Innovation, a leading environmental management consultancy, commented that “the quality of entries has doubled over the last two years”.

The Award was originally established in 1985 as the BASF Design Award and has evolved to become Design Innovation in Plastics, now owned by The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and The Worshipful Company of Horners, with the continued support of Bayer MaterialScience as the principal industry sponsor. This year the Award celebrates its 25th anniversary and acknowledges winners who have developed into successful designers, such as Rob Law, a finalist in 1997, whose entry is now marketed globally as the Trunki, a ride-on children’s suitcase; Derek Muir, the 2005 winner, who is now a designer with Black & Decker; and Joshua Sheard, who was employed immediately by Universal Imports Ltd, the UK’s leading door furniture supplier, as a direct result of his success in last year’s competition.

A unique feature of the Design Innovation in Plastics Award is the feedback from the judges following the preliminary judging session, which enables the students to refine their designs for the final judging stage.

After seven years at the helm of this very successful plastics design competition, Dr David Mays has decided to hand over to Martin Sixsmith, former Director of Bayer MaterialScience UK/Ireland, who will head the award team from July 2010.

The winners’ presentation boards will remain on display at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) until the end of July: 1 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DB. Tel: 020 7451 7300.

THE WINNERS

FIRST PRIZE SafetyNet, Dan Watson, Royal College of Art
A redesigned trawl net offering an affordable way to improve the sustainability and lower the environmental impact of demersal (bottom) trawler fishingDan wins a placement with Bayer MaterialScience, Leverkusen, Germany and a cheque for £1000

SECOND PRIZE Smokefree Linx, Bradley Coulson, Northumbria University
A bracelet to aid smoking cessation (inspired by the experience of trying to quit smoking).Bradley wins a placement with DuPont in Geneva and a cheque for £500.

THIRD PRIZE Stack Composter, James Shutt, Northumbria University
A garden composter that speeds up the composting process, allows easy access to the mature compost and is impenetrable to nesting rodentsJames wins a placement with PDD, and a cheque for £250

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Precision D Shin Guard, Jaipreet Bahra, Aston University
A soccer shin guard incorporating smart polymer materialJaipreet wins a placement with Brightworks plus a cheque for £100

flow • R • spiral, Helena From, London South Bank University
A shower head based on a ball and spiral mechanism designed to reduce water consumption by more than halfHelena wins a placement with HellermannTyton plus a cheque for £100

Pincer, Matthew Ince, University of Huddersfield
An aid for safely lifting and carrying heavy building blocks on construction sites Matthew wins a placement with Hi-Technology Group plus a cheque for £100

The Judging Panel

• Richard Brown (Chairman) Operations Director for Hi-Technology Group 
• Mandy Haberman, Haberman Associates 
• Rob Holdway, Director, Giraffe Innovation 
• Dr Robin Kent, Managing Director, Tangram Technology 
• James Steiner, Senior Designer, PDD 
• Stewart Potter / John Barsby, Bayer MaterialScience

The Award acknowledges support from the following additional sponsors:

• PlasticsEurope [1], a leading European plastics trade association 
• Cogent [2], the Sector Skills Council for Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Nuclear, Oil & Gas, Petroleum & Polymers 
• Materials KTN [3], which enables the exchange of materials knowledge and the stimulation of business innovation 
• PDD [4], an international product innovation consultancy 
• DuPont [5], a global leader in engineering polymers 
• Hi-Technology Group Limited [6], a provider of total solutions in plastics design, tooling and moulding 
• HellermannTyton [7] , a leading supplier of products for fastening, identifying and protecting cables and a pioneer developer of data systems 
• Brightworks [8], an award-winning UK product design and development consultancy

For further information and images please contact: Sylvia Katz [9], Award Coordinator 
www.designinnovationplastics.org.uk [10]