The James Dyson Foundation and Innovation Lab UiTM-UTHM in collaboration with the Office of Industry, Community and Alumni Networking (ICAN), College of Engineering (CoE), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia, has conducted an ICAN CoE Outreach, Series 2022: The James Dyson Award 2022 – Live Sharing and Q&A Session on the April 13, 2022 via the Microsoft Teams meeting platform.
The James Dyson Foundation (JDF) is a Dyson foundation based in the UK. The foundation is introducing young people to the real world of engineering by encouraging them to think creatively and innovatively, learn to make mistakes and realize their engineering potential.
Each year JDF will organize a competition called The James Dyson Award (JDA) to unearth creative and innovative talents and ideas among university students from around the world, especially those in the field of engineering. For 2022, entries have opened on March 16 and will end on July 6, 2022. The College of Engineering through the Office of Industry, Community and Alumni Network (ICAN) has received an invitation from JDF to be the co-organizer in a series of partnerships to promote and attract more students to participate in this prestigious competition.
This partnership session was co-organized with Innovation Lab UiTM-UTHM along with the Fraunhofer IEM, Germany.
The objectives of this sharing session are to introduce The James Dyson Award (JDA) to students and staff of the College of Engineering, and to provide exposure to students and staff on the actual design concept by expert engineers from Dyson. This shall encourage the participation of more students in generating creative and innovative ideas through the JDA2022 competition.
The session started with opening remarks from Ms. Manyi Ho, representative from the James Dyson Foundation, followed by a welcoming speech from Prof. Dr. Hajah Hamidah Mohd Saman, Dean of ICAN, College of Engineering, UiTM. The highlight of the session is a sharing session from two Dyson’s engineers, Mr. Haikal Isa, Design Engineer, Dyson Malaysia and second speaker is Mr. Azri Masran, Engineer on Motor and Pick Up System Lead.
Both engineers were sharing on the iterative design process conducted in Dyson on their product and how engineers work in Dyson environment to achieve their goals. They also inspired the audience with their Dyson’s design philosophy – different, authentic, and pioneering.
The sharing session was closed with a short conclusion from our collaborator from Germany, Mr Laban Asmar of Fraunhofer IEM Germany. In his speech, Mr Laban motivates the students to participate in the James Dyson Award as it is the real practice of engineering and product design, and it is important to have that kind of experiences in addition to the fundamental engineering learned in the university. Overall, the sharing session is a success with total of 50 participants joining it from inside UiTM and from outside as well.
Taking this session as the first step along the road to the James Dyson Award, innovationlabs of UiTM and UTHM offers space and expertise to help students who would like to participate and give full support for the students’ interest.
The details of the James Dyson Award can be access through the website, https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/en-MY/.
Muhammad Hussain Ismail, UiTM