Six finalists for DIP 2026 revealed

Six university undergraduates have just been announced as finalists in this year’s Design Innovation in Plastics competition – and have already proved they are game for a challenge.

This year’s competition asked students to create a game, which could be played indoors or outdoors, be educational or just plain fun.

The final six, representing Aston University, Brunel University, Coventry University, and Nottingham Trent University, will now present their prototype products to the judging panel in London on May 08.

The competition’s chairman of judges, Richard Brown said the top candidates had done well to consider the demographics and diverse learning styles of their target audience, thereby ensuring their products were accessible to a wide range of people.

He said: “Developing a game is challenging especially if you want it to be educational as well as being engaging and fun.  We were impressed that many of the top students achieved this.  They avoided vague or unfocused goals, and a number even measured the learning content of the game.  The purpose of the game was generally clear, with the best of the entries providing good instructions and visually logical paths, as well as a balance between luck and difficulty versus fun.

“We felt they’d risen well to the challenge and it will be interesting to see how our six finalists develop their ideas, having received feedback from the judges at this preliminary stage.”

As part of their prize, all finalists have been invited to attend a four-day process engineering course hosted by Fanuc UK Ltd, a world market leader in factory automation, and run by Sierra 57 Consult, a leading training provider to the UK plastics industry.  This accredited course will give them a basic understanding of injection moulding and other processing methods which will also help them to further refine their products for presentation at the final judging session in May.

Design Innovation in Plastics is the longest running plastics competition of its kind in Europe, having been established in 1985. It is supported by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Worshipful Company of Horners, and sponsored by leading design and plastics organisations, including Covestro  www.designinnovationplastics.org., Brightworks, Innovate Design, PDD, Fanuc UK and Sierra 57 Consult..

This year’s finalists and products:

• Daniel Brown – Brunel University -  Mad Dash Escalation, a tabletop board game involving forward thinking and strategy, involving two or four players.

• Joanne Chartouni – Nottingham Trent University – Steady Stacks, an indoor or outdoor game tailored to children with ADHD to encourage social interaction and mental stimulation

• Isaac Faruque – Brunel University - Cross Connect, a unique two-player strategy path game with wide age range appeal.

• Aidan Jones – Nottingham Trent University – Lollipop Lane, an indoor or outdoor board game which teaches children road safety rules.

• Yushu Li – Coventry University – Munchie Monster, a physical learning game designed for children aged 4-6 to educate them about sugar awareness

• Maya Pai – Aston University – Honeycombe Havoc, a fast-paced strategy board game for people of all ages, designed to build predictive skills

-Ends-

Notes to editors

1.     Established in 1985, Design Innovation in Plastics is the longest running student plastics design award in Europe. For more information visit www.designinnovationplastics.org 

2.     The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a major UK engineering institution and is the professional body for the advancement of materials, minerals and mining to governments, industry, academia, the public and the professions. For more information visit www.iom3.org

 3.  The Worshipful Company of Horners is one of the oldest livery

companies in the City of London and was formed to regulate the horn-working trade. In 1943 it adopted its modern equivalent, the plastics industry. For more information visit www.horners.org.uk

Headline industry sponsor – Covestro

About Covestro:

Covestro is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. Covestro supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from Covestro are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, telecommunications and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself. 

The company is geared completely to the circular economy. In addition, Covestro aims to achieve climate neutrality for its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035, and the Group’s Scope 3 emissions are also set to be climate neutral by 2050. Covestro generated sales of EUR 12.9 billion in fiscal year 2025. At the end of 2025, the company had 46 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 17,600 people (calculated as full-time equivalents). 

Other competition sponsors:

• Brightworks: an award-winning UK product design and development consultancy dedicated to helping other companies develop the best products for their customers, their markets and their brands

• FANUC UK: a global pioneer in in factory automation and technology leader in computer numeric control machining, robotics and ROBOMACHINE machine tools.

• Innovate Product Design: specialises in helping individuals to protect, develop and commercialise their new product ideas and inventions

• PDD: provides integrated design and innovation skills, working with organisations worldwide to develop novel products, services and business processes that drive revenues and create competitive advantage

• Sierra 57 Consult a leading accredited training provider to the UK plastics industry

• Media partners: British Plastics and Rubber, Materials World, Mould Technology