OLD COLLEGIANS’ FEATURE
Investing in Safety
The popularity of diving without scuba gear comes at a cost. Award-winning designer, James McNab addresses the problem.
A life-saving inflatable vest designed by recent design graduate from Victoria University James
McNAB( School, 2003-07) was joint runner-up among the finalists in an international design programme that saw 500 projects entered from 18 countries. The short list of 15 was judged by a high-powered panel which included designers, engineers, media and founder of the award, Sir James Dyson.
Having studied design in his final two years at King’ s, James who has a strong interest in water sports was inspired to create the Revival Vest after losing a young family friend in a spear fishing accident in the Bay of Plenty. The victim, a medical student, was aware of the risks and took safety precautions, but on this occasion he pushed himself too hard and blacked out.
Identifying the problem that arises in free-fall diving, where divers can drown after blacking out under water, James set about creating a vest using smart fabric technology to monitor respiration and changes to the body caused by the stress of drowning. Once it detects a change, the vest inflates bringing the user safely to the surface.
“ Basically, it’ s a life-jacket that saves lives,” says James, who laments that there is little safety equipment available to free divers and conventional vests, which restrict movement, are too buoyant to let a diver remain under water. His vest inflates in the front and back chest areas. More air goes into the front so that the person ends up floating on their back and a supporting cushion around the neck is designed to keep the mouth out of the water.
The international winner of the 2012 James Dyson Award addressed overfishing- a problem very relevant to New Zealand and the Pacific region.
British designer Dan Watson, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, engineered a series of escape rings for fish, which can be retrofitted to a fisherman’ s trawler net.
Many fish caught and thrown back into the sea as unsuitable for sale don’ t survive. After research, Dan developed SafetyNet which provides an illuminated escape route for young, unmarketable fish, to prevent them being
“ People have also been excited about the Revival Vest’ s possibilities in fishing, kite surfing, kayaking – it could be used for so many water sports,” he says.
While James has received good feedback from local and international sports vest manufacturers, he has yet to find a company or person to help commercialise the design.
This Tauranga-based 22-yearold joined the shortlist of 15 finalists after performing very well in the New Zealand James Dyson Award. In the international final he was up against some serious design talent but in November 2012 James was placed equal second for which he received £ 2000, but more importantly, international recognition that money can’ t buy.
The James Dyson Award was instigated by the great design champion himself to foster young design talent and to help get their products to market. The Art Department at King’ s can take some pride in helping to shape the early stages of this designer’ s career – a great launching pad and increasingly recognised for producing excellent students who go on to study design at university.
According to his teacher Chas Foxall,“ James was a real worker and gained a top excellence in
captured in the nets.
The rings exploit the escape behaviours of fish. Small and medium fish swim up when stressed, whereas larger fish swim down. By exploiting this, the net only catches mature, non-endangered species.
James Dyson said:“ We should celebrate this tangible technology which addresses a serious environmental problem. SafetyNet shows how young graduates like Dan can tackle global issues ignored by established industries in new and inventive ways.”
his Level 3 design portfolio. He never gave up on an idea, no matter how silly I thought it was. He could take criticism on his work and bounce back with even better ideas. This is the essence of a good designer.”
As to what inspired James to study industrial design / engineering?“ I was, and still am, driven to solve problems. I love having a creative challenge in front of me.”
Sounds familiar? Sir James Dyson rose to fame based on similar sentiments which he continues to put into practice. First, it was rethinking the wheelbarrow, then the bagless vacuum cleaner, followed by a hand dryer, then a motionless fan, most recently the airblade tap …. and along the way he has never ceased to make the case publicly and politically for good design and sound engineering principles.
Footnote: James came from a talented Year 13 cohort including Marcus Brown NZQA Design Scholarship, Andreas Leha, Galen Beck Jaffurs, Rachel Picot, James Orr, and others who all went on to study design at Massey or architecture / design at Victoria, having gained access on the strength of their portfolios.
Kirsty Beckett
AUTUMN 2013 • KING’ S COURIER 35