Simon’s a prize-winning designer

A San Franciscan September awaits final year BA (Hons) Industrial Design student Simon Ritchie, thanks to his success in a national Design competition.

Simon, 21, from County Durham, has clinched £1,000 in the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture & Commerce (RSA) Student Design Awards. His prize-winning design is an inhaler for asthma sufferers, created specifically for the RSA’s Medical Products section.

Simon said: “I looked at inhalers from the viewpoint of a young and active person. There seems to be a stigma about getting an inhaler out in public and they’re viewed as rapidly disposable items. My design tries to make the inhaler into a lifestyle accessory, something of personal value like a mobile phone or a pager. There’s a cord, which can attach the inhaler to your watch. Hopefully this will change the perception of the inhaler into something re-useable.”

When preparing his design, Simon consulted local nurses to explore the pros and cons of existing inhalers, and used his findings to suggest an improved model.

His design reached a shortlist of ten and he travelled to London for final assessment by a panel. Simon added: “I was nervous the night before, but once I got in front of the panel I felt more at ease and confident in my own project. I found I’d won two weeks later and telephoned my parents Linda and George at work straight away, they’re over the moon.”

The RSA prize has to be used within eight months, and Simon aims to fly to San Francisco in September on a working break, looking at the work of other design companies. Earlier this year he was also one of two Teesside students to successfully design a storage unit for hospital wards, in a competition sponsored by the Audi Foundation.

For more information on the BA (Hons) degree in Industrial Design please call 01642 384019, or check the University of Teesside’s web site at www.tees.ac.uk

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