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In 1978, James Dyson became frustrated with his vacuum cleaner’s diminishing performance. Taking it apart, he discovered that its bag was clogging with dust, causing suction to drop. He’d recently built an industrial cyclone tower for his factory that separated paint particles from the air using centrifugal force. But could the same principle work in a vacuum cleaner?He set to work. Five years and 5,127 prototypes later, he had invented the world’s first bagless vacuum cleaner.
James Dyson’s vacuum cleaner was first sold in Japan, the home of high-tech products. Known as the ‘G-Force’, it impressed the Japanese with its performance and quickly became a status symbol, selling for $2,000 a piece. It also won the 1991 International Design Fair prize in Japan.
With the royalties from G-Force sales, James Dyson was able to set up his own company, Dyson Ltd. In 1993 he opened his own research centre and factory in the Cotswolds, and set to work making a new vacuum – one that would capture even smaller particles of dust. It was called DC01, for ‘Dual Cyclone’, and it was the first vacuum cleaner to maintain 100% of suction 100% of the time.
Today, there are Dyson machines in over 65 countries around the world. Dyson has grown from one man and one idea to a technology company with over 1,000 engineers worldwide. But it doesn’t stand still. At its core is an ever-growing team of engineers and scientists. More ideas. More invention.
Dyson engineers and scientists in Britain, Singapore and Malaysia are dedicated to inventing and improving Dyson machines. They are drawn from a broad spectrum of disciplines: fluid dynamics, robotics, acoustics, electronics and microbiology to name but a few. Each one is an expert in their field. Working together, they ensure Dyson machines outperform others and that they’re built to last.
From Malmesbury to Malaysia and Chicago to Singapore, Dyson has teams around the world. Each one plays an important part in the company’s success. Most recently, Dyson has invested in a purpose-built motors facility in Singapore. Its sole purpose is to precision-manufacture every Dyson digital motor – a key technology at the heart of the latest Dyson machines.
All the initial research, design and development of Dyson technologies is done at the Dyson headquarters in Malmesbury, England. It’s here that James Dyson and his team of engineers are hard at work every day, constantly finding ways to make things work better.
Dyson engineers and scientists refine their ideas again and again. Today, prototyping is faster and more sophisticated, but corners remain uncut. If anything, it means Dyson engineers do more prototyping as they pursue perfection.
Dyson machines have structural integrity. They are strong and they are light. A knowledge of geometry and pioneering materials means that Dyson engineers can do more with less. Less materials, less weight, less waste.
Engineers are the world’s problem solvers. And we need more of them. This is why James Dyson is so passionate about encouraging more young people to pursue science, technology and engineering. The James Dyson Foundation is a charitable organisation that supports students and teachers via bursaries, education programmes and teaching materials.
The James Dyson Award is an international design award. It exists to inspire the next generation of design engineers by celebrating their work and elevating them on a global platform.The award is run by the James Dyson Foundation as part of its mission to inspire young people about design engineering, to fulfill their potential and become engineers.