You may remember the story of Ryan Tilley, the winner of the Australian James Dyson Award. His product called Gecko Traxx received wide acclaim for allowing wheelchair bound people to access areas off-road never before possible.
Well after my interview with him back in September, guess what? Bigger things have happened. Ryan has now gone on to be the first Australian ever to place in the top 3 of the international James Dyson Award, running an amazing 2nd.
Gecko Traxx which is a portable, affordable and manual wheelchair accessory now ranks alongside other remarkable inventions made by two female students from the UK, Lucy Hughes (winner) and Anna Bernbaum (runner-up).
Lucy came up with a product designed to target single-use plastics and inefficient waste streams by creating a product made of organic marine waste called, MarinaTex.
While Anna devised an AI-enabled wearable device called Afflo that monitors asthmatic symptoms and is designed to predict triggers. Essentially using data to allow sufferers to pre-emptively treat their condition.
Ryan will receive a further $8,500 to help commercialise his product not just here, but hopefully globally!
Well done!
