A revolutionary fire extinguishing device for kitchen taps which won its inventors the £10,000 James Dyson Award is set to be launched by the end of the year. Yusuf Muhammad and Paul Thomas of London postgraduate university of art and design, the Royal College of Art, are now accepting pre-orders for their Automist invention – a pump and heat-detection system that is installed under sinks and sprays mist via mist jets that fit into the base of standard kitchen taps.
Muhammad and Thomas, who teamed up with two MBA students from Imperial College and formed the company Plumis, recently completed safety and performance tests in the UK. The Award has helped the inventors attract investments to fund the tests and build prototypes.
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The James Dyson Award is run by the James Dyson Foundation which was set up in 2002 to support design and engineering education and inspire young people to become engineers. James Dyson is best known for inventing the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner which works on cyclonic separation. Dyson believes that more young people are needed in the engineering industry to solve 21st century challenges of sustainability, housing and an ageing population.
The international design award exists to inspire the next generation of design engineers by celebrating their work and elevating them on a global platform. This year, Dyson is looking for more innovative design engineering ideas. The competition closes on July 1.
Muhammad gives the following advice to potential entrants of the competition: “Have belief in what you are doing. Don’t hesitate to enter…With ideas there always a fear some times that some one will steal my idea. But it’s really important to find a way to get your idea out of your portfolio and into the world.”
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