Student’s green scheme which uses pedal power to purify air wins praise

A student who cycled daily along some of the country’s most fume-filled streets has won a design competition to reduce toxic chemicals – with a bike that attacks pollution.

Kristen Tapping, from Brixton, had been pedalling to her product design course at London South Bank University (LSBU) along Brixton Road – which regularly breached European safety standards before lockdown.

She has now won the nationwide Design Innovation in Plastics competition, 2020, which is the longest running competition of its kind in Europe.

Her product tries to tackle one of the most pressing problems of the modern urban age by creating a bicycle wheel with pollution filters that uses movement to actively purify the air.

Her Rolloe – Roll off Emissions wheel – operates in the busiest, most polluted roadways, requiring zero energy to function, except for pedal power from the cyclist.

Kristen, pictured above, for whom this was a second attempt at the competition, said: “Cycling through London, I was able to see and smell the pollution coming from tyres and tailpipes.

“I thought – why not use the movement from vehicles to filter the air? If it seems the product has a future, I may try to develop it to a commercial level.”

Her concept is targeted at large-scale shared bicycle schemes, rewarding consumers based on distance travelled.

The competition challenged students to come up with a brand new product on the theme of urban living, which would enhance life in a city environment, for use in flats or whilst commuting.

Kristen beat an original entry of more than 100 students from all over the UK and Ireland to win the top prize of a trophy and £1,000, a trip to Leverkusen, Germany, to visit competition organisers Covestro, a placement with sponsor PDD Innovation and an invitation to the Lord Mayor’s Banquet as a guest of the Worshipful Company of Horners.

The judging panel felt Kristen’s product, with further support and development, could be a viable prospect for the market.

Chairman of judges, Richard Brown, said: “The amount of background investigation carried out by Kristen to support the design feasibility of this product was outstanding and enabled this to be a very worthy winner.

“She tackled the brief extremely well and to a high level, addressing the points the judges raised at the preliminary judging session.”

Each of the six finalists receives a short industry placement with one of the supporting competition sponsors: Brightworks, Innovate Product Design, PDD and RJG Technologies.

Preliminary and final judging taking place through video conferencing, and the final award, was announced in an ‘as live’ broadcast online.

DIP chairman, Martin Sixsmith, said: “Our committee has worked really hard to make this competition happen through the period of the coronavirus lockdown, and I must pay tribute to their dedication and creativity.

“Because of this, the number of designs submitted was pretty much the same as in any ‘normal’ year.

“In retrospect, a lot of positives have emerged from this year’s challenges, not least that we have found new ways of working, many aspects of which are sustainable, and which we will adopt permanently in future.”