UL student holds his breath for Dyson award

Two Irish students will find out this Friday if they have won the prestigious James Dyson award.

The successful entries, Dublin Institute of Technology’s Eilis Delaney and the University of Limerick’s Cathal Redmond, were selected from more than 600 projects and are listed as being in the top 20 worldwide.

Mr Redmond’s Express Dive allows divers to breathe underwater for up to two minutes. Once the air supply begins to run out, the user simply resurfaces and holds a button to refill the one-litre tank.

The device combines the technological advancements of scuba diving with the ease of a snorkel system, making the system more user-friendly for novice users. Express Dive is smaller, lighter, cheaper and easier to use than any scuba system on the market. A full scuba kit can cost in the region of €3,000, as opposed to an estimated €400 for the ‘Express Dive’.

Mr Redmond was inspired to come up with the new invention after a boating trip in Crete.

“My device fills the space between snorkelling and scuba,” he said.

“Scuba still exists for deeper diving, but my device makes the experience portable, refillable and more usable.”

Ms Delaney, a product design student, designed a potentially life-saving ‘smart’ firefighter helmet called Sense, which will assist while navigating a burning building with poor visibility.

The system provides the user with an improved perception of their environment and allowing them to navigate dark spaces in a similar manner to bats.

An ultrasonic proximity sensor behind the front plate of the helmet is linked to a vibration motor. If the user encounters an obstacle, it is detected externally by the sensor and triggers the internal vibration motor.