Hong Kong’s Air Ring 48 Shines Bright As 2024 James Dyson Award Global Top 20 Shortlist

A tailored cooling accessory for safety helmets for enhanced worker protection

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 16 October 2024 –

• As global warming intensifies, the global workforce is at risk from death or injury as a result of extreme heat. It is revealed that 60% of Hong Kong’s construction workers have suffered symptoms of heat stroke[1].
• Today, the James Dyson Award announces its 20 best inventions by young engineers and designers, including a helmet cooling accessory from Hong Kong, marking the region’s second consecutive year in the Top 20. Sir James Dyson will now select the global winners from this shortlist, to be announced on 13 November
• The Top 20 shortlist features a prominent presence of entries from Asia, with China, Singapore and South Korea each securing two spots, signifying the rise of Asian inventions on the global stage

Addressing heat stress: A personal cooling device designed for outdoor workers

Air Ring 48 (AR48), which has been shortlisted for this year’s James Dyson Award Global Top 20, tackles the critical problem of heat stress in construction workers through an innovative cooling accessory aimed at improving safety and productivity in challenging conditions.

Since 2021, Hong Kong has recorded more than 50 days of extremely hot weather with temperatures exceeding 33 degrees[2], posing significant heat stress and health risks to the city’s workers. AR48 is an advanced personal cooling device designed to integrate with standard safety helmets, providing targeted relief for outdoor workers. It directs airflow to key areas prone to heat stress, such as the neck and behind the ears. Testing shows it can reduce skin temperature by up to 3.20°C and core temperature by 0.67°C, delivering an overall cooling effect.

Weighing just 150 grams and operating at a whisper-quiet 30dB, AR48 stands out as a wearable device designed for comfort and ease of use. Its single-click helmet attachment ensures secure operation with minimal distractions. Built to be waterproof and impact-resistant, it meets industry safety standards, rendering it suitable for challenging construction environments.

AR48 has been recognised as the Hong Kong winner of the 2024 James Dyson Award announced earlier in September, receiving a price of £5,000. Being selected as Global Top 20, AR48 will now enter the final stage of the James Dyson Award, competing for global winners that will be selected by Sir James Dyson and announced on 13^th November. The winning inventions will receive £30,000 to support their further development and commercialisation.

Established in 2005, the James Dyson Award is an international design competition which inspires and celebrates the next generation of design engineers. The Award operates across 29 countries this year and has supported over 400 problem-solving inventions with over £1m in prize money. It is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Sir James Dyson’s engineering-education charity.

Crafting for perfection: The development of Air Ring 48

The engineers behind AR48 are three students from the University of Hong Kong: Yu To Mak, Ze Fu Jeff Li, and Jing Hymn Joseph Wong. Observing the demanding outdoor working conditions, the team is motivated to create a revolutionising cooling solution tailored to the needs of construction sites, which can help enhance safety and mitigate the risk of heat-related illnesses among outdoor workers.

The team dedicated the past two years to developing AR48, culminating in the creation of its 48th prototype. Through a blend of digital tools and hands-on techniques, including cardboard modeling and clay sculpting, they meticulously refine the device’s proportions, airflow, and tactile elements to ensure the device’s performance under challenging outdoor condition. As a major next step, they are currently investing for further product development, which will involve manufacturing trials and waterproofing tests. In the long term, they aim to introduce this transformative technology to the global market, advancing working conditions for construction workers in Hong Kong and beyond.

Upon learning that AR48 has been shortlisted, Jing Hymn Joseph Wong expressed, “Being selected for the James Dyson Award Top 20 shortlist is a tremendous honor and an exciting milestone for our team. It not only validates our hard work but also fuels our drive to elevate our invention. We look forward to refining our project and proceed with further development that will bring our vision to life, thereby making a meaningful impact on worker safety and wellbeing.”

Sam Dill, Dyson Sustainability Engineer and James Dyson Award Top 20 judge says, “I was particularly impressed with Air Ring 48’s iterative design process. Their thorough real-world testing, physical prototyping and data collection led to continuous improvements, making their entry Top 20 worthy. They understood the other products already on the market and made sure to differentiate themselves, and were able to show tangible improvements with their product offering.”

The Top 20 Shortlist

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About the James Dyson Award

The brief
Design something that solves a problem. This problem may be a frustration that we all face in daily life, or a global issue. The important thing is that the solution is effective and demonstrates considered design thinking.

The process
Entries are judged first at the national level by a panel of external judges and a Dyson engineer. Each operating market awards a national winner and two national runners-up. From these winners, a panel of Dyson engineers then select an international shortlist of the top 20 entries. The top 20 projects are then reviewed by Sir James Dyson, who selects his international winners.

The prize

• International winners, chosen by Sir James Dyson, awarded up to £30,000.
• Each national winner receives £5,000.

Eligibility criteria
Entrants must be, or have been within the last four years, enrolled for at least one semester in an undergraduate or graduate engineering/design related course. This course must be at a university in a country or region chosen to participate in the James Dyson Award.

In the case of team entries, all members must be or have been within the last four years, enrolled for at least one semester in an undergraduate or graduate programme at a university in a country or region chosen to participate in the James Dyson Award. At least one team member must have studied an eligible subject in engineering or design. Those participating in a degree level apprenticeship at Level 6 or Level 7, and those who have completed said apprenticeship in the past four years, are eligible to enter the award.

Further FAQs can be found on the James Dyson Award website.

Recent past winners
· 2023 International winner – The Golden Capsule (South Korea)
A hands-free intravenous (IV) device designed for disaster zones, that can be strapped to the patient and does not rely on gravity.

· 2023 Sustainability winner – E-COATING (Hong Kong SAR)
An eco-friendly and affordable roof and exterior wall coating with a high cooling effect for electricity-free cooling.

· 2022 International winner – SmartHeal (Poland)
A precise, affordable and scalable smart pH sensor for dressings, helping medical professionals to detect infection without the need to disrupt the tissue underneath the dressing by removing it.

· 2022 Sustainability winner – Polyformer (Canada)
A low-cost machine that turns plastic bottles into 3D printer filament, giving makers in developing nations easier access to cheap, high-quality 3D printing materials.

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