Voltera V-One, a custom circuit board printer developed as a Capstone Design project by Waterloo nanotechnology and mechatronics engineering students, has made the international shortlist of the prestigious James Dyson Award.
The printer that allows the user to take a design on a computer to a circuit board in an hour is one of two Canadian inventions to make the list of 20 finalists narrowed down from a record 710 entries from 20 countries.
Voltera V-One was a project that appealed to every engineer on the shortlisting panel,” said Matt Kelly, a Dyson design engineer and one of the judges. “The time it takes to prototype a circuit board is always a challenge on projects, bringing shared frustration. We all loved the idea of being able to turn a computer design into a circuit board so quickly.”
The V-One prototype was created by Alroy Almeida, Katarina Ilic, James
University of British Columbia students, the other Canadian finalists for the award, have developed a device that allows surgeons in developing countries cut custom screws when access to vital and appropriate surgical screws is not readily available.
Creating a solution to solve a problem
The James Dyson Award is an international student design award run in 20 countries. The contest is open to university level students and recent graduates in the fields of product design, industrial design and engineering with the objective to design something that solves a problem. The international winner to be chosen by James Dyson will be announced on November 10.
Last year Suncayr, a Waterloo nanotechnology engineering student startup, was the James Dyson Award international runner up. Suncayr has developed a marker that indicates when sunscreen needs to be reapplied. Also started as a Capstone Design Project, it was the first Canadian invention to be honoured in the finals of the international design competition.