7 Jul 2014
Design School graduate wins major award
Daniel Brooks.
Photo by James Champion, © New Designers
A Loughborough University student has picked up a major award at the New Designers 2014 exhibition in London.
Daniel Brooks won the Wilko Award for Innovation for his energy efficient clothes drier called Numa and received £1,000 and a two week placement at W’innovate, a subsidiary of Wilko which supports new designers.
Daniel, who has just graduated from the Design School, said: “I wasn’t expecting it at all, I’m shocked but really pleased.
“It’s nice to go out on a high and, hopefully, I’ve done the Design School and the University proud.
“This will really help to kick-start my professional career and it’s great to be recognised by a company like Wilko.”
The judges said: “We love design when it really demonstrates a true understanding of the everyday life and the challenges it sets.
“Daniel’s solution is so well thought-through and has a real mass appeal - from students at university through to first-time home owners and people living within limited spaces. We love it!’
Daniel, from Banbury, was one of 16 Design School graduates chosen from 105 final year students to showcase their designs at the UKs most important graduate design exhibition.
The annual event, held at the Business Design Centre, displays the work of more than 3,000 newly-graduated designers and brings them together with UK and international companies looking for design talent.
Daniel will take up the placement at W’innovate and has also been invited to return to a Featherstone-based company called Icon where he did a placement during his degree.
Daniel says his clothes drier bridges the gap between a static clothes horse and a tumble drier and is aimed at people without a garden to dry their clothes.
He hopes to bring it to market and says the cost of running it, 5p per hour, is less than that for a tumble drier.
The drier has six adjustable arms, a fan at the top which blows out air at room temperature, and a dehumidifier at the bottom which can extract up to two litres of water per drying cycle.
Tracy Bhamra, Dean of the Design School, said: “We are absolutely delighted with Daniel’s award win at New Designers. He is an outstanding example of one of many talented students set to graduate this year.”