Final result announced!
- dipwebmanage
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
De Montfort University student wins with life-saving device
After a nail-biting wait for the results by our super six finalists, we were delighted to announce the 2025 results at our award ceremony in London on Friday (June 20), held at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. The top prize went to a student from De Montfort University with a simple but brilliant device which could save lives.
Harry Wragg was awarded the DIP trophy for his product CPR+Aid, a new device for helping people to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He was answering this year’s brief of Health and Wellbeing – a product for the self-care agenda.
Winner, Harry Wragg with CPR+Aid, receives his certificate from chief executive of IOM3, Dr Colin Church
CPR+Aid gives audible feedback immediately pressure is applied, to guide people through the vital life-saving skill, ensuring they are applying the right amount of pressure. Harry presented three different sizes of device, all colour-coded to identify the specific individuals it should be used on. The simple but ingenious nature of CPR+Aid, which works without the need for electronics, makes it a low-cost solution that could potentially form part of a first aid kit. It is made from high density polyethylene (HDPE) for easy recyclability, strength, flexibility and toughness.
Our delighted winner said “My research had shown a lack of first aid training and lack of defibrillator availability, so I wanted to find something that would give people the confidence to help save a life.
“I’ve proved to myself that I’m capable of producing a professional design that can change lives and have an impact on society. This competition has opened a door into a public sector of product design, demonstrating the possibilities and links to future opportunities.”
Chairman of judges, Richard Brown, said: “We were very impressed with the simplicity of the product, the thought which had been given to material selection and how it would be manufactured, including being upscaled to meet demand. We believe it is a product that challenges the current CPR approach and could save lives.”
Commenting on this year’s finalists, he added: “The standard was so high that there were very fine margins between the final positions, and we would suggest that a number of products are good enough to be commercialised.”
Harry wins £1,000, a placement with a DIP sponsor, a year’s membership to IOM3 and an invitation to the Worshipful Company of Horners’ annual banquet.
The judges awarded second place to Krzysztof Boroniec, a product design student from Technological University Dublin, for his product Nibbliee, an ingenious chewing device, which helps exercise chewing and jaw muscles and translates into a signal, enabling activity in digital games. It was created using ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) for the biting tray and polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) for a structural component, utlilising both flexibility of EVA and durability of PETG, both also being biocompatible and recyclable. Kris wins £750 and a placement with a DIP sponsor.
2nd placed student, Krzysztof Boroniec, and his product, Nibbliee
3rd placed, Abbie Williams, with her product, FlexiKnee Pro
In third place is Abbie Williams, Nottingham Trent University, with FlexiKnee Pro, a knee strengthening brace which uses resistance bands to help strengthen the joint and offset osteoarthritis. The design is injection moulded using recycled thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to lower the environmental impact, with polypropylene clips for low cost and efficient manufacturing. Abbie wins £500 and a placement with a DIP sponsor.
Highly commended awards (cash prizes of £250 each) go to:
· Romaine Crawford, Loughborough University, with Serenity a support device to help people relax and improve their mental health. It uses aromatherapy and light therapy to change an individual’s mind, mood and energy. Polypropylene (PP), PET and TPR were used in the creation of the product.
· Henry Follett, Brunel University, with CrosStick, which works as a normal walking stick, but when the user needs to stand up, it will expand and fold out to give two points of contact with the ground, offering more stability when standing. The main body of the product is made from carbon fibre-reinforced CFRP, while contact points use polyether ether ketone (PEEK) with a TPU overlay.
· Michael MH Leung, Brunel University, with UE:1 Seat, an ergonomic rocking seat which serves as both a support system and a muscle activator, helping to ease movement and enhance comfort. It is designed to help people rehabilitating from back pain. Polypropylene is used in its construction.
Highly commended (L to R): Romaine Crawford with his product, Serenity. Henry Follett with his product Crosstick. Michael MH Leung and his product AE1: Seat
We would like to offer our congratulations to all our finalists for their professionalism and the brilliance of their products, and to their universities for once again nurturing the very best of our product and engineering design talent in the UK and Ireland.
We would also like to thank our valued sponsors, who enable this competition to go ahead: The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, The Worshipful Company of Horners and headline industry sponsor, Covestro.
Our placement and training sponsors: Brightworks UK, Innovate Design, PDD Innovation and Sumitomo (SHI) Demag and our media partners, British Plastics & Rubber (Rapid News Group), Materials World, and Mould Technology, who ensure that news of our competition spreads far and wide.