Laura hopes computer design will branch out to international win

AN IRISH graduate who designed a tree-shaped computer will vie with other wacky designs for top honours at a prestigious international competition in New York.

Laura Caulwell’s creation will be up against a tangle-proof sailing rope from Australia, underwear from Austria that can correct your posture, and a toilet from Japan that analyses your waste to assist your doctor in diagnosing and treating your illness.

A total of 14 countries will compete for the €6,270 prize in the James Dyson International Design Award tomorrow.

An Austrian designer has developed “ergoskin” underwear, which works through sensors to correct bad posture for physiotherapy patients.

The Denmark entrant is a “Caterpillar Scoop Stretcher” with which a paramedic can pick up and carry a patient single-handedly.

A Dutch student has come up with a solar-powered, multi-hulled underwater vehicle.

The Health Management Toilet from Japan analyses the smell, colour and consistency of your waste and the readings can be automatically sent to your doctor.

The Australian entry is Powercleat — an invention for sailors that prevents ropes from becoming tangled on deck.

Ms Caulwell, from Knocklyon, Co Dublin, won the Irish heat of the competition with her design Cultivate — the Sustainable Living Computer. The branches on the tree-shaped computer hold the mouse, speakers, the RAM, the central processor, the battery and a light.

Ms Caulwell said the components can be plucked from the tree and sent back to the supplier for upgrade, recycling or re-manufacture.

Entries will be judged by an international panel made up of Mr Dyson and three other design experts from the US, Japan and Italy.

“The need for good design and technology is essential for everyday life,” said vacuum cleaner tycoon James Dyson.

“The award encourages young designers to think differently and to create ideas which aren’t necessarily slick or stylish — but that can solve everyday problems”.

Mr Dyson is a British industrial designer famous for being the inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which operates according to cyclonic separation. His net worth is estimated at €1.25 billion.

The award is supported by the James Dyson Foundation whose aim is to inspire young people about design engineering.