It’s crucial for CC to nurture up and coming design talent. One, our reputation for innovation that creates business and societal value depends on it. And two, we relish the freshness, enthusiasm and can-do attitude displayed by young people who are determined to change the world for the better.
Every year, it’s our privilege and passion to sponsor the Cambridge Consultants Associate Prize for Breakthrough Design – part of the prestigious New Designers awards. New Designers is an annual showcase of the UK’s most innovative emerging design talent. Since its inception 40 years ago, it has provided a platform for over 2,500 graduates to present their visionary ideas to industry professionals and the public every year.
This time around, our winner Olly Peace and three runners-up – Lucia Guest, Jaime van Rooyen and Zaki Razak – all delivered outstanding health and wellbeing product concepts that placed unmet user needs at the heart of their solution. It was great to meet all four of them when our CEO Monty Barlow handed out the prizes in the roof-top bar of CC’s HQ on the Science Park in Cambridge. I asked about their concept journeys – how they identified the need; how they approached the challenge of coming up with a solution; and how they ensured it offered the promise of significant commercial impact.
Winner: Olly Peace, Loughborough University
Olly’s winning concept ‘Opal’ uses visual and thermal analysis to identify early signs of Caesarean section scar infections that are often overlooked. The idea is to help mothers prevent significant scaring, reduce the emotional stress of hospital readmissions, and save millions of pounds for the UK National Health Service.
“After meeting so many mothers I realised they have very limited guidance on how to take care of themselves by monitoring their scar and making sure they are totally healthy. They are focused on their precious baby and not necessarily themselves.”
Opal is a handheld pebble-shaped monitoring device that is used to capture and interpret data. It is teamed with a companion app that mothers can use to share insights with health professionals to manage appropriate care responses and mitigate problems. Commercially, Opal offers significant opportunities to save money, improve efficiencies and enhance the health and wellbeing of mothers and their families.
Joint runner-up: Lucia Guest, University of Leeds
‘Vilo’ from joint runner-up Lucia Guest is an ingenious concept designed to provide tangible support to help parents navigate grief and stay connected after pregnancy loss.
“There’s lots of verbal support, counselling and therapy, but there is nothing tangible and physical on the market. What there is though is this feeling of aching arms and emptiness. Charities I spoke to described feedback from parents about having something to hold and feel so they can express their grief.”
Vilo is an aesthetically pleasing, tactile device with function modes that stimulate feelings similar to when someone holds your hand – warmth and security – but also include gentle vibrations, gravitational lights and a guided breathwork feature. Lucia’s concept has already sparked interest from business and charity representatives.
Joint runner-up: Jaime Van Rooyen, Loughborough University
Jaime’s project, ‘Say Halo’, is a system for modern menstrual care, grounded in hygiene and insight. It is intended for everyday use and was inspired by Jaime’s determination to drive positive change in women’s health.
“Menstrual care is definitely an area that is severely ‘under designed’ for. Women are not well served in the market. My research showed that many branded tampons had traces of heavy metals with few studies about long-term effects. It made me adamant that I didn’t want to work in the disposable product sector.”
‘Say Halo’ is an elegant, portable rinsing pod for menstrual cups. Its ingenious structural design means that matter is agitated and rinsed clean away with minimal fuss and mess.
Joint runner-up: Zaki Razak, Nottingham Trent University
Zaki’s ‘Structra’ concept is a compact, modular hospital trolly. It combines vital sign monitoring with point of care testing, replacing the need for cumbersome laptops and smartphones. The many efficiency enhancing features are designed to save precious time for nurses.
“My purpose was to build a bridge that could communicate between multiple devices, sync them and package all the data into an iPad so it could be seamlessly uploaded to a central system.”
Inspired by user feedback, the solution features adjustable compartments, modular ports and dedicated holders to improve workflow, storage and hygiene. Commercially, Zaki says it offers a future-ready cost-effective platform for scalable care in healthcare environments.
Expert authors
Lai Chiu Tang leads a design team focused on medical technology innovations at Cambridge Consultants. With over 18 years of experience in medical device development, Lai champions design and innovation to improve the user experience of products. Her expertise spans industrial design, UI, packaging and information design.
