Next generation of innovators debut at industry event

Benn Richards has designed a mobile, hands free nebuliser for those who suffer from severe asthma. The nebuliser allows patients to take their medication, a process which can take up to 20 minutes three times a day, without interrupting their daily tasks. Benn designed the nebuliser with children particularly in mind – wanting them to not have to stop playing and feel like “the sick kid”. The nebuliser is adjustable to suit a range of head sizes, with detachable medicine compartment and mouth piece.

Daniel Cavasinni drew inspiration from industry when designing an all in one gel documentation device. Gel documentation devices are used by pharmaceutical companies to test DNA and identify the healthiest DNA. This DNA is cloned and used to create medicines. Daniel’s design is smaller and more efficient - allowing scientists to run twice as many tests in the same amount of time, reduce gel handling from seven to three times per test, and reduce set up time from 19 minutes to five minutes. Daniel hopes his design will make a difference to the treatment of breast cancer, Alzheimer's disease and HIV/AIDS through the creation of new and more efficient medicines.

Gordon Gnjatic has designed an autonomous vehicle sharing system – a self-driven bridge between public and private transport designed to help ease congestion on roads and public transport whilst maintaining personal space and privacy. Gordon likens the vehicle to a personal taxi but without a driver. As an autonomous vehicle, it is able to be called to an address using a smart phone app, allow registered users to take one of the four seats available through swipe card entry and deliver users to another address. Passengers are separated by a privacy screen (pictured) and are able to continue working or resting in privacy. The vehicle is sustainable, running on a hydrogen fuel cell, is designed primarily for CBD business men and women, and is the next step beyond cars which use limited amounts of autonomous technology for example cars which park themselves.

Joel Ferguson has designed a rearward facing child restraint which will help to ease anxiety felt by parents when out of reach and sight of their baby. The seat incorporates an ambient activity sensor which takes the baby’s temperature and relays it to the parent via a coloured strip on the back on the seat. When a parent glances in their rear-view mirror they will see the back of the seat coloured either green for a temperature too low, blue for a normal temperature and red for a temperature too high. Additionally, Joel has fitted a finger print scanner to allow only approved personnel to swivel the seat and remove the child.

Joel Taylor has designed a futuristic child restraint which will reduce driver distraction and thus help to prevent accidents by the year 2020. The seat incorporates Human Computer Interaction (HCI) technology in the form of a sensor on the buckle which senses when the child, a sibling or another passenger attempts to undo the buckle and alerts the driver through an alarm. A weight sensor under the child will alert the driver if and when the child comes free from the seat. Joel hopes this will reduce the driver’s need to constantly monitor the child through the rear-view mirror or by turning around – effectively taking their eyes of the road and increasing the chance of an accident.

Nam Phan was inspired by personal experience to design a device which will help the vision impaired gain a more sensory experience of an art gallery. The device contains four components: a tablet device which is able to replicate the texture of a work on its surface, an attached joystick which uses resistance to help the user understand the shape of sculptures, detachable ear pieces which give an audio tour of the gallery, and a flexible device design to wrap around the users wrist which uses vibrations to direct the user around the gallery according to the tour they have selected. The device is designed to take a user through the Museum of Contemporary Art in 40 minutes. The device was inspired by Nam’s cousin whose experience of art galleries can be unsatisfactory after lengthy guided group tours which must be booked ahead and are limited to only four artworks.

Tim Wiseman has embraced three dimensional printing technologies to create customisable shelving options that can be introduced in any residential or commercial environment. Customers would purchase software rather than a physical product and use this software to adjust the designs provided by Tim to create the modules they need, in the colour and quantity they want. This information is then sent to a 3D printer. Time hopes that because the product is customisable, the customer will keep it for longer and thus reduce waste.