Limerick design graduate wins Irish James Dyson Award for device preventing hair loss in chemotherapy patients

The device allows patients to bring the device home, making it more accessible to the consumer market

Product Design and Technology graduate Olivia Humphreys with her invention “Athena”, has scooped the top prize in Ireland, winning €5800 from the James Dyson Foundation.

University of Limerick graduate Olivia Humphreys has been named winner of the Irish leg of this year's James Dyson Award for a tool that helps prevent hair loss in chemotherapy patients. 

The device, named Athena, works by utilising low-cost thermoelectric semiconductors to cool a tank of water, which circulates it around the head. This reduces blood flow to the scalp, shrinking blood vessels and decreasing the amount of chemo drugs that reach the hair follicles.

The battery-powered device allows patients to bring the device home and control it themselves, making it more accessible to the consumer market.

Ms Humphreys, who is a recent graduate of product design and technology at UL, has been awarded the top prize worth €5,800 from the James Dyson Foundation, which conducts the annual award for design inventions made by students and recent graduates.

Ms Humphreys will now go on to represent Ireland at the international finals of the James Dyson Award, with the overall winner being announced in November.

The Limerick graduate said she decided to build the device after her mother was affected by cancer in 2019. 

“Using a Peltier computer cooling fan system, a diaphragm pump, my mum's old suitcase, and my dad's plane battery, I was able to create a strong proof of concept to gather valuable feedback to develop the concept," said Ms Humphreys.

“Following this, I focused on the product's form, creating cardboard and foam models and determining functionality aspects and touchpoints to ensure the best user experience. Ultimately, I arrived at my final model, Athena, which was crafted using SolidWorks 3D CAD modelling.”

Speaking on the device's future, she said: "Extensive research and development is required. While working on this project, I have been fortunate to network with Luminate Medical, a company in Galway, Ireland, dedicated to building a better future for cancer care. They have extended an internship offer to me as a research and development engineer."

"I have accepted and am very eager to apply the insights gained from my own research and development to contribute to their mission.”

Speaking about Athena, Lead Design Engineer at Dyson James Gilchrist who was part of the judging panel, said: “The genius of Athena isn’t just in increasing access; it’s in taking the patient out of the clinic. 

"That’s not just a win for patients but also for clinics, enabling them to treat more patients each day.

"Olivia impressed us with her first prototype—a 'cut and shut' computer cooling fan and diaphragm pump built into her mum’s old suitcase. Once that proved the concept, she went on to develop a high-fidelity prototype, leveraging recent innovations in battery-powered coolers.”