Student Design Awards winners 2017-18

In 2017-18, we received entries from students studying in 27 countries across 4 continents, and from over 130 different courses. 78 percent of entries were from UK-based students and 22 percent were from students based elsewhere in the world.

View the full gallery of winning and commended work on our Facebook page.

Working Well

Sponsored by NatWest

Design a vision and business case for a way to promote greater wellbeing when people are at work, wherever that work takes place, that will contribute to higher productivity and better overall mental health.

Winner: Laura Van Krieken, Northumbria University

Project: Flowboard, exercise springpad that sits under workers’ desks, allowing them to increase the amount of activity and movement they do while sat down at work.

Award: Winner of the NatWest Award of £2500 for best design project.

Winner: Alex Mills, Casey Hargreaves, Liz Mirchan-Breckenridge, Katrina Schouten and Stephanie Donovan

Project: Hungryr, an online grocery service that delivers to drivers of commercial vehicles.

Award: Winner of the NatWest Award of £1000 for the best business case

Commended projects

Vincenzo Damato, Ravensbourne College of Design

Project: Salus
Award: Highly Commended for the Design Award

Emmanuella Collarini, University of Northampton

Project: Mind-Aid
Award: Highly Commended for the Design Award

Hannah Schmith, Torrens University Australia, Billy Blue College of Design

Project: The Little Book of Wellbeing
Award: Highly Commended for Best Business Case

Portia Jones, Laura Wells, University of Waterloo

Project: Schift
Award: Highly Commended for Best Business Case

Joseph Campbell, University of Portsmouth

Project: Spot the Signs
Award: Commended for the Design Award

Hannah Lomas, University of Portsmouth

Project: Reducing Aggression and Violence in A&E
Award: Commended for the Design Award

Adrianna Bilas and Kasey Ledger, University of the West of England

Project: Work Sensible
Award: Commended for Best Business Case

Rhys Ritchie, Glasgow Caledonian University

Project: Traqua
Award: Commended for Best Business Case

Sleep Matters

Sponsored by Philips

Design a product, service or system to improve health and wellbeing by encouraging and/or enabling better sleep.

Winner: Emily Brown, Sean Roberts

Project: Blu, an app-based product that allows users to write down their negative thoughts before sleep, to encourage the drifting off process

Award: Winner of the Philips Award of £2500

Winner: Tara Wilson

Project: The One Watch, a watch-based safety and alerting aid for diabetics.

Award: Winner of the RSA Fellows’ Award of £1250

Commended projects

Kieran Scott, University of Gloucestershire

Project: Alleviate
Award: Commended

Christie Hoggan, Edinburgh Napier University

Project: Blindlight
Award: Commended

Fair Play

Sponsored by Marketing Trust with additional support from The Chartered Institute of Marketing and Waitrose

Design or re-design a consumer toy and its product packaging to eliminate waste, using circular design principles.

Winner: Shannon Williamson, Sheffield Hallam University

Project: PolyPoly, re-branded and re-packaged monopoly board game, aimed to reduce waste and educate the family on how to be environmentally friendly

Award: Winner of the Marketing Trust Award of £2000

Elly Skelton, De Montfort University

Project: 1 Toy for Life, a durable scooter that can be adapted as the user grows to last all of childhood

Award: Winner of the Waitrose Award of £2000

Winner: Helena Cowley, Loughborough University

Project: Hexplore, a toy to encourage children to interact with nature and the outdoors through exploration and small world play

Award: Winner of the Placement Award at The Chartered Institute of Marketing

Commended projects

Lorenzo Soruri, Sheffield Hallam University

Project: Corebot
Award: Highly Commended

Filipa Condez, Escola de Tecnologias Inovação e Criação (ETIC)

Project: Play Play Play

Award: Highly Commended

Mae Foster, University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins

Project: Waitrose Biodegradable Fruit and Veg
Award: Commended

The Hygienic Home

Sponsored by Eureka

Design or re-design a floor cleaning product that will make cleaning easier and more effective, enabling older people to maintain their independence for longer

Winner: Blair McIntosh, Northumbria University

Project: Buddi, a subtle passive air purifier, combined with an integrated hoover, which remains on display in the home rather than stashed away in the cupboard

Award: Joint Winner of the Eureka Award of £3000

Winner: Jon Schwarzmann, Tino Duralija, Academy Of Fine Arts And Design, University Of Ljubljana, and Franziska Schranz, FH Oberösterreich (project done on Erasmus at Maynooth University)

Project: Smartbot robot vacuum cleaner, laser directed robot vacuum cleaner, which eliminates bending and muscle load.

Award: Joint Winner of the Eureka Award of £3000

Commended projects

Ben Pointon, Loughborough University

Project: Swish
Award: Highly Commended

Hugo Parnell-Hopkinson, Birmingham City University

Project: The Legacy Brush
Award: Commended

Kate Hunt, Loughborough University

Project: Clean and Lean
Award: Commended

Fair Finance For All

Sponsored by NatWest with additional support from NCR

Design or redesign a way for people who are financially excluded to be better served by banks and other money management services

Winner: Shreepriya and Andrea Bottia, Domus Academy, Milan

Project: The Well Income Service, service solution which offers digital financial education and access to refugees in Europe at the different stages of their journey cycle, according to their needs at a certain time

Award: Winner of the NatWest Award of £1500

Winner: Emily George, Kingston University

Project: Lime, budgeting system which breaks down your weekly budget into categories to improve money management, without the need of an internet connection

Award: Winner of the NCR Placement Award

Commended projects

Jonathan Upton, University of Derby

Project: Solar Cash
Award: Highly Commended

Jay Kay, Isabel Kim, Kimberly Sin, Wensi Xu, Xiangyu Li and Yossi Tamara, LASALLE College of Arts, Singapore

Project: Cerca
Award: Commended

Eat, Share, Live

Sponsored by Office for Disability Issues, AEG, Symphony, Kesseböhmer, Blanco and The Kitchen Education Trust with additional support from the National Innovation Centre for Ageing

Design an inclusive and accessible and multi-generational kitchen space or kitchen component that works for all ages, as well as for disabled and non-disabled family members, so they can prepare, cook and serve food, entertain, engage in hobbies or work and enjoy life together

Winner: Tim Chapman, University of Nottingham

Project: Pan Stop, a flame-proof silicone guard for electric and induction hobs, to prevent the problem of food spilling onto the laps of people in wheelchairs, to boost the confidence of visually impaired users and those with poor mobility.

Award: Winner of the Office for Disability Issues Award of £1000

Winner: Nora Costello, Design Institute of Technology, Sligo

Project: Caroucel, re-imagined kitchen space with a motorised system, allowing users to adjust counter heights and relocate modular kitchen units

Award: Winner of the Industry Award of £1000

Winner: Chung Hang Chiu, Heriot-Watt University

Project: The United Kitchen, self-assembly domestic use and disaster relief sociable kitchen with a rotatable and height-adjustable table.

Award: Winner of the Industry Award of £1000

Commended projects

Archie Ashford, University of Nottingham

Project: Holed
Award: Highly Commended

Tereza Chronakova, University of Dundee, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Arts and Design

Project: Embrace
Award: Commended

Connor Musoke-Jones, Brunel University London

Project: The Unity Door Handle
Award: Commended

Wearing Intelligence 2.0

Sponsored by Eddie Squires Legacy to the RSA with additional support from Kinneir Dufort and Materials Council

Develop a design solution that utilises ‘advanced textiles’ (fabric that has been enhanced by new technologies) to improve well-being or the quality of people’s lives

Winner: Fred Whitten, University of Nottingham

Project: Insulive, an insulin pump ready for anything: A wearable, breathable, flexible insulin pump which sticks to the skin of users

Award: Winner of the Eddie Squires Award of £2000

Winner: Gabriella De Rosa, Goldsmiths University

Project: InterWeave, a “living fabric” - an advanced textile interlaced with plants - which creates a connection with nature that “enriches and expresses our relationship with nature”.

Award: Winner of the Placement at Kinneir Dufort Award

Commended projects

James Silverwood, Loughborough University

Project: Nest Guide
Award: Commended

Emily Clements, Loughborough University

Project: Volvo Freedom
Award: Commended

Moving Pictures

Sponsored by Legacy funds to the RSA, with additional support from RSA Events and Natracare

Conceive and produce an animation to accompany one of the two selected audio files that will clarify, energise and illuminate the content.

Winner: Catarina Rao Vieira, Middlesex University

Project: Not Enough Time, stop motion hand-drawn animation focusing on the square as the central element with a simple, positive and cheerful style.

Award: Winner of the RSA Award of £1000 and the RSA Staff Choice Award of £500

Winner: Cameron Gleave and Guilhem Boujassy, Edinburgh Napier University

Project: Unclear Waters, digital animation with a hand-drawn style and portraying different small sequences of different analogies connected to water. This central element is used as a metaphor for information and creates the connecting thread through the series of smaller scenes.

Award: Winner of the RSA Award of £1000

Winner: Grant Saunders, Arts University Bournemouth

Project: Digital Falsehoods, digital animation focusing on the fragmentation of news and atomisation of gossip, mainly spread on internet platforms, reflected by the wrapping or fragmenting of many of the visual elements.

Award: Joint Winner of the Natracare Award of £1000

Winner: Max Wright, Arts University Bournemouth

Project: Post-Truth, digital animation focused around a social media page and bringing it to life through the use of the recognisable icons of this network in unexpected interactions. The animation is also laced with references to war and violence, illustrating how the internet seems to have become the new battlefield of our time.

Award: Joint Winner of the Natracare Award of £1000