August 19, 2009
Cast in Paper
A sneak peek at one of the semifinalists in this year’s James Dyson Award
The James Dyson Award won’t announce a winner until next month, but its PR team is already promoting one “especially innovative” product by an American design student. Nicholas Riddle’s Prio Paper Cast is a stabilizing cast made from intricately woven paper; intended for disaster-relief efforts, the cast is lightweight, ships flat, and includes easy-to-read triage straps with instructions for medical personnel. Riddle’s proposal is one of 20 to move on to the semifinals; its competition includes an intelligent fire extinguisher from France, an ergonomic wheelchair brake from Ireland, and a collapsible electrical plug from the U.K. We’ll report back when the winner is announced in a few weeks.