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Isobel Payne (centre), a product design engineering student from Glasgow School of Art, has won a placement at Brightworks after winning first place in the Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) Awards 2024 for her product, ‘SafiCase’.
Isobel’s product is a collapsible device for cleaning and steam sterilising reusable menstrual cups, using minimal water. The self-powered case uses a solar battery for the sterilising circuit, and can be used by an individual without access to an electricity source, or running water. It is the first all-encompassing solution to safely maintain a menstrual cup without power.
Chairman of judges, Richard Brown comments: “This is a great solution to safely clean a menstrual cup without power, and to maintain hygiene. This product uniquely addresses the off-grid challenge, and meets a very clear social need, not just for the traveller but also, for example, displaced people living in refugee camps. It was very well researched and is a worthy winner with a product idea that could be commercialised.”
Isobel said: “It means such a lot to have a platform for dealing with the issue of period poverty, which is rarely spoken about, despite affecting so many people worldwide and around 40 per cent of women in the UK. I hope this design helps bring awareness for reusable options, and helps other people decide to invest time in designing more solutions, as there is very little innovation in this area.”
In addition to her Brightworks placement, Isobel wins a £1,000 prize, a membership to the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and an invitation to the Worshipful Company of Horners annual banquet.
Brightworks Managing Director, Graeme Paterson said, “We are extremely excited to be able to offer a placement to Isobel and look forward to her working with us in the near future”.
Brightworks have been a sponsor for the DIP Awards for 14 years, which was established in 1985 and is the longest running student plastics design awards in Europe. This year's brief asked students to design an off-grid product for independent living, aimed at either leisure or household markets, and to be made primarily of plastics. The panel of industry judges admitted to being blown away by the quality of the designs produced by this year’s finalists in what had been a very challenging brief.
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