Alumni from Design Engineering presented innovative contributions in virtual reality (VR), sustainability education, and interdisciplinary design.

The Design Intelligence Award ceremony, hosted by the China Academy of Art, highlighted the global impact of Dyson School of Design Engineering alumni. eteeController secured a silver award, along with CNY 200,000, and other initiatives from our alumni received honourable mentions at the ceremony, showcasing their contributions to real-world solutions. 

eteeController: A game-changer in VR and beyond

Powered by TG0's cost-effective component assembly process and patented technology, eteeController stands out for its affordability and high quality. With its lightweight design and compatibility with existing trackers, the device promises an unparalleled user experience. eteeController is making waves in fitness electronics and medical research, leveraging its pressure-sensing capabilities.

Danyi Shen, Innovation Design Engineering (2019) student, expressed the team's pride, stating, "We, the TG0 team, are immensely proud as the eteeController wins the DIA Award on its first appearance in China. We hope our pioneering gesture based XR interaction solution will redefine interaction paradigms within the XR industry."

Team Repair Recognised for Empowering Children in STEM

Megan Hale, Anaïs Engelmann, and Oscar Jones, Design Engineering (MEng) graduates received a DIA Honourable Mention Award for their project, Team Repair. Team Repair, an initiative that empowers children with skills and tools to repair broken gadgets, fostering scientific knowledge and fixing skills. By encouraging children to fix their devices instead of simply throwing them away, Team Repair is helping to create and teach children a more sustainable future and inspire them to get into STEM (science, technology, engineering and medicine).

Narrative Realms: GID Alumni Showcasing Success

Liana O’Cleirigh, Global Innovation Design (2021) student announced the success of Narrative Realms, a project from her joint master's programme at Imperial College London and Royal College of Art, which also earned an Honourable Mention Award at DIA 23. The project showcases a global presence of the Global Innovation Design (GID) programme.

Narrative Realms is an Augmented Reality Story Engine for collaborative writers to catalyse ‘Creative Bounce’; a combination of interpersonal synchrony and creative flow. Immersing writers in a story of their own creation as they write within a tactile and collaborative storytelling platform, and augmenting the creative writing experience.

The winning projects were selected from over 7,000 entries worldwide through three rounds of judging and deserve huge congratulations. Including eteeController and Narrative Realms, the entries from the UK have achieved significant recognition at DIA 23, with another silver award and four honorary mentions. All award-winning projects will be documented in DIA publications and endorsed for future development by DIA branding.

About Design Intelligence Award (DIA)

The Design Intelligence Award (DIA) is an international competition connecting cultures through design. It gathers a global community of entrepreneurs, creatives and innovators who tackle society's biggest challenges.

The DIA is one of the newest and most prestigious international academic awards in design that was founded in 2015 by the China Academy of Art. The DIA recognizes innovative, forward-thinking, and sustainable design solutions that address real-world problems and improve people's lives.

 For more information on future DIA entries, contact Dr. Pengfei Mi (p.mi@imperial.ac.uk) at Dyson School, serving as the UK director of DIA.