We’ve got the James Dyson Award! Second year in a row!

In Poland, the competition was held for the second time. Last year, XTRUDE ZERO - an idea by Mike Ryan from our Faculty and Aleksander Trakul from the University of Edinburgh - won the national stage. At the time, the students designed a machine that disinfects and recycles used 3-layer surgical masks.

This year, the winners of the national stages of the competition were announced in September. An international committee of 15 Dyson engineers, scientists and designers then selected the 20 finalist inventions from around the world, out of 87 designs. The winner of the competition was chosen by James Dyson himself, having just named the authors of the SmartHEAL project, who will receive £162,000 for its further development.

SmartHEAL is a smart pH sensor integrated into a wound dressing. By monitoring the pH values, it is possible to assess the condition of the wound and detect infection without removing the dressing and therefore without disturbing the tissue.

The developers of the solution have already constructed the sensor and confirmed its performance under laboratory conditions. They have also developed technology for integrating printed electronics into textiles.

From the left: Piotr Walter, M. Sc., Dominik Baraniecki, M. Sc. and Tomasz Raczyński, M. Sc. during the results conference.

- We still have a long way to go. We are a little scared, but also excited about the challenges ahead. Winning this competition will allow us to begin key research. Later, we plan to obtain additional funding to help us guide the project through the most difficult stages of all biomedical device development, says Tomasz Raczyński, M.Sc. - Our team consists of experts in the fields of electronics, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering and this gives us the range of competencies and skills to fine-tune SmartHEAL and change the world for the better, he adds.

- 'The development of SmartHEAL and its implementation in the future is a huge challenge, as it requires both biocompatibility and clinical testing, emphasises Dominik Baraniecki, M.Sc.

As emphasised by the jury of the Polish stage of the competition, the SmartHEAL project meets all the requirements of the competition: it is scalable, cheap to prepare and meets a real need.