Two Irish students on shortlist for Dyson award

Inventions by two Irish students have made it into the top 20 shortlist for the 2015 James Dyson award.

A system to help firefighters navigate burning buildings with poor visibility, designed by Eilis Delaney of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT); and simplified scuba-diving equipment, by Cathal Redmond of the University of Limerick, were chosen from more than 600 entries worldwide.

Ms Delaney’s Sense system fits into firefighters’ helmets and uses ultrasound to identify obstacles in a similar way to how bats detect their prey in the dark.

She explained that firefighters face serious obstacles when navigating their way around burning buildings, partly because of the heavy uniforms they wear, which limit sensory feedback.

Mr Redmond’s Express Dive simplifies scuba-diving set up by cutting the number and size of the parts needed to breathe underwater. His entry won the Irish leg of the competition.

Both could win a €37,500 award that will allow them to further develop their inventions.

Ciara O'Brien of The Irish Times, Adrian Weckler of the Irish and the Sunday Independent, and Barry Sheehan of DI T judged the competition.