Profile: Dyson cleans up
James Dyson became an engineer to make things work better and improve lives, he tells Dan Poole
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Published: 04 December 2006
What did you study at school and college?
Mostly arts and humanities subjects, which might surprise you since most people think of me as an engineer. There wasn't anything like design and technology around when I was at school - the closest thing we had was woodwork, which wasn't very exciting. I did an art foundation year after school, mainly because I didn't know what else to do.
How did you get into engineering?
After my foundation year, I went to the Royal College of Art to study furniture design. There I met a man called Anthony Hunt [now famous as the creator of the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station], who was giving a series of lectures on structural engineering. He was interesting because he formed part of a rare breed of design engineers: he did all the science of engineering, but also cared about style and design. Inspired by him, I decided to switch to engineering. After the RCA, I went to work for an engineering company called Rotork. That's where I really learnt about engineering. And that's how I started off life!
What does engineering mean to you?
It means making things work better. What excites me is taking things that don't work and making them better, and that's important because you're changing people's lives (albeit often in a small way). It involves an agonising process of trial and error and believing in yourself when people are telling you to give up. To be honest, it's a bit of an obsession of mine.
How important is the role of engineering in today's society?
The thing about engineers is that most of the work they do goes unnoticed. Most people only think about engineering when something goes wrong! But really, engineering is vital to our society; it makes people's lives better and can even save lives. The products we use, the water we drink, the transport we use; they are all a result of engineering. I'd encourage young people to think seriously about doing engineering because you can really make a difference; we need lots of engineers to keep inventing things that make our lives better!
How important will engineering be in a sustainable future?
Engineering is going to be fundamental to a sustainable future for everybody. Green energy [including wind power, solar power and wave power] will only be possible through engineering, and that's exciting because science, design and engineering are the only subjects that enable you to change the future of the planet in such a real and hands-on way.
What excites you in the world of engineering at the moment?
There is a real trend towards the miniaturisation of technology. There is palpable competition between companies to make their products and components as small as possible, with Apple releasing the smallest MP3 player in the world recently. But I still like so-called "old industry", in particular the JCB because of its simplicity. It really was groundbreaking, being the first digger to make use of the force generated by hydraulic power.
You're most famous for your vacuum cleaner. Where did the inspiration come from? How hard was it to get it right?
Put simply, I thought that I could do better than the vacuum cleaners that were on the market at the time. I had one that just seemed to push dirt around the house rather than sucking it up, and in my continual quest to make things work better, I started thinking about how the problem could be solved. Fourteen years of trial and error - and 5,127 prototypes - later, I made my first Dyson.
What can we expect from the Dyson School of Design Innovation, opening in Bath in 2008?
It'll be the first school of its kind in the UK. It will give creative young people the freedom to explore and experiment with ideas in a dynamic and exciting environment. You can expect state-of-the- art technology and inspirational teachers. Students will get to meet and work with engineers from Dyson, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and other engineering firms.
Do you have any advice for young engineers?
Look around at the things you use every day and see whether they really do offer the best solution. If you think you have a way of making something better, don't be afraid to be different, and don't give up if people reject your ideas. Try to trust your instincts. I think a lot of people give up just as they are about to be successful.
HIGH AND DRY
An unexpected interruption disturbed the press launch of James Dyson's latest invention, a whizzy new hand-dryer that he hopes will revolutionise our trips to the lavatory. As journalists repeatedly rinsed their hands under a tap and plunged them into Dyson Airblades, two burly punks with nose rings and spiky hair noisily arrived and began thumping and booting the dryers.
Security guards finally evicted the intruders, who executed one last flying kick at the wall-mounted machines as they left. Knowing smiles crept across the faces of Dyson executives: the vandals had been hired to demonstrate the sturdiness of the £549 dryer.
Like Dyson's other inventions, the dryer works on different principles to its forerunners. A conventional hand-dryer blasts hot air down onto the hands to evaporate water, taking about 30 seconds. The Airblade blasts cold air from either side of the hand to brush off water, taking 10 seconds. The water falls into a compartment and is turned into mist.
A clever piece of kit powers the whole thing: a motor that spins five times faster than a Formula One racing car engine. The Dyson Digital Motor took 11 years, 20 brains and £18m to perfect at the company's laboratories in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
The Airblade represents what Dyson intends to be a "step change" in the breadth and depth of his products. He says the Airblade works twice as fast as a normal dryer and uses a fifth of the electricity, meaning buyers will "get their money back in a year". It is also reputedly more hygienic.
By Martin Hickman
Also in this section
- Console yourself: How to make a career out of creating video games
- Green revolution: The eco-city of the future is about to be unveiled
- Case study: Adeniyi Aje, civil engineer for Royal Haskoning
- Interview: Katy Deacon, Young Woman Engineer of the Year
- Case study: David Dalgado, civil and environmental engineering student, Imperial College London
