Sir James Dyson

BiographyBirth: 2 May 1947 Cromer Norfolk England.

Education: Byam Shaw School of Art (1965-1966)Royal College of Art (1966-1970)

Work: Inventor/ Product Designer.

Special Achievements:• 1996: Commander of the British Empire (CBE)• 1997: The Prince Philip Designers Prize.• 2000: The Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award• 2000: Received an honorary Doctor of

Engineering degree from the University of Bath.

• 2005: Elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).

• 2007: Made a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours.

• Since 2011 he has been Provost of the Royal College of Art.

Dyson’s first realised design

The Rotork Sea Truck is a flat-hulled, high-speed watercraft, similar to a small landing craft. Made from fibreglass, they may be used to land vehicles without jetties or harbour facilities. They were designed partially by James Dyson in the 1970s, as part of his final year's project at the Royal College of Art.

It is still manufactured by Rotork Marine in Bath, England

James Dyson FoundationThe Foundation's aim is to inspire young people to study engineering and become engineers by encouraging students to think differently and to make mistakes.

It achieves this by funding different resources such as the "Education box", a box filled with activities for a school to use as a teaching aid. The Foundation loans the boxes to schools for four weeks, free of charge. They are suitable for Key Stage 4 and above and can be used in universities. The Education box enables students to take apart and examine a Dyson DC22 Telescope vacuum cleaner.

In addition, a school is allowed to retain a James Dyson Foundation teacher pack, and a copy of Genius Of Britain, a Channel 4 TV series featuring James Dyson himself, and design engineering posters. Other resources are also available.

Dyson set up the Foundation in 2002 to support design and engineering education.

The Foundation also supports the work of young designers through the James Dyson Award. This is an international design award that "celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers".

It is organised and run by the James Dyson Foundation Charitable Trust and is open to graduates (or recent graduates) in the fields of product design, industrial design and engineering.

The Ballbarrow• The Ballbarrow was Dyson’s first original

invention; a modified version of a wheelbarrow which uses a ball instead of a wheel. This was featured on the BBC Tomorrow's World television programme.

• It was released in the UK in 1974. It

featured a moulded plastic hopper on a steel frame and a spherical plastic wheel

• Compared to a conventional design, Dyson said the larger surface area of the ball made the wheelbarrow easier to use in soft soil, and more laterally stable with heavy loads on uneven ground.

• The original design featured a galvanised steel hopper. Later, the design was changed to a plastic hopper, with an optional clip-on height-extension piece.

The Ballbarrow won the Building Design Innovation Award in 1977.

Dyson continued with the ball-wheel concept in his design for the Trolleyball boat launcher in 1978, and the DC15 vacuum cleaner in 2005.

Bagless Vacuum• Dyson launched the "G-Force" cleaner in 1983.

However, no manufacturer or distributor would handle his product in the UK, as it would disturb the valuable market for replacement dust bags,

• Dyson then launched the product in Japan through catalogue sales. Manufactured in bright pink, the G-Force sold for the equivalent of £2,000. It won the 1991 International Design Fair prize in Japan.

• He obtained his first U.S. patent on the idea in 1986.

• After failing to sell his invention to the major manufacturers, Dyson set up his own manufacturing company, Dyson Ltd. In June 1993, he opened his research centre and factory in Malmesbury Wiltshire.

Bagless Vacuum

In the late 1970s, Dyson had the idea of using cyclonic separation to create a vacuum cleaner that would not lose suction as it picked up dirt.

He became frustrated with his Hoover’s diminishing performance: The bag kept becoming clogged with dust and as a result the suction was reduced.

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TARGET MARKETERGONOMICSCOSTHEALTH & SAFETYDC07

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AirbladeThis is an electric hand dryer.It is different from other conventional hand dryers because instead of using a wide jet of heated air, it uses a sheet of unheated air travelling at 400 miles per hour. The Dyson Airblade dries hands in just 10 seconds and uses around 80% less electricity than conventional hand dryers.

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Airblade• Invented in 1993• Launched in the UK in 2006

• Hygienic – no contract with any surface and uses filtered air.

• Since its release, the Dyson Airblade has won several awards including the Best Overall Product at Interbuild 2007 and best workplace product innovation

Cordless Vacuum•3 times suction power of any other cordless vacuum.

•Powered by the high speed Dyson digital motor.

• DC59 has a lightweight aluminium wand and ergonomic design with the weight positioned near the hand – so it’s easy to lift up high. And with no cord, you’re free to clean wherever you want.

DC59

Cordless Vacuum

Taken from Dyson’s website

Cordless VacuumDC59

Taken from Dyson’s website

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DC59