With a prize fund of almost NZD $200,000, the world’s brightest young engineers are challenged to design something that solves a problem. Students and recent graduates have until 19 July, 2016 to enter.

Entrants from 22 countries around the world will compete for a prize of NZD$60,000 and a further NZD$10,000 for their university.

First run in New Zealand in 2001, the competition is now global in its search for new and better ways to solve problems.  In recent years the competition has discovered and supported inventors with ideas such as an inflatable baby incubator for developing countries, and a gelatin food label which indicates food freshness.

Last year, Auckland designer Jason Khoo was named the New Zealand winner for his design of a treehouse platform for kids to build architectural wonders in their backyard. Jason received over NZD$4,000 from the James Dyson Foundation to invest in the development of the concept, and his design was put forward for international judging against entries from participating countries. 

The international winner was Voltera V-One, a rapid prototyping system developed by a team of four engineering students from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

The New Zealand leg of the competition is supported by Dyson, The Designers Institute and the Intellectual Property Office of NZ who will provide the 2016 national winner with an official fee prize package tailored to his/her immediate intellectual property needs. The national winner will be announced in September.

Enter here.