Earth Tatva – James Dyson Award National Winner for 2020
Earth Tatva is a unique material composition that can reduce mining for natural resources by up to 60%. It is made under the zero-waste manufacturing process, adhering to the principles of the circular economy; and supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 12. The Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), a national research institute under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India (Ministry of Science and Technology), has reported Earth Tatva to be 35% stronger than traditional ceramics; and hence doing more and better with less.
For Earth Tatva, Shashank, the inventor, procures the pulverized form of post-industrial ceramic rejects called ‘grog’, from the surrounding production cluster, which forms the major portion of the raw material (between 60% – 70%), and virgin clay. This virgin clay acts as a natural binder that helps in giving shape to the grog. As clay naturally converts to ceramics after the firing process, this essentially is like working with a mono-material, which is a huge advantage while upcycling or recycling material. Using the casting method, called ‘slip-casting’, this material can then be mold into any shape and size. The high proportion of grog means that the composition has a quicker drying cycle increasing its production yield, and also uses lesser energy to fire. It matures at 1120 °C where virgin materials mature at 1220 °C.
“I have always been fascinated by the idea of turning waste into a valuable resource. While working on design solutions, I often wonder what happens to the products & materials at their end of life. On this project, I kept asking myself how I can add shared value from the inside & not just from a functional or aesthetic point of view. That is how the idea of a universal material was conceived against making a product. Since day one, the aim was to make a closed-loop material that can be incorporated in a zero-waste manufacturing process.” – Shashank
For runners-up, there was a tie between the team from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (Chennai); that submitted their invention Cube; and the team from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; for their entry Drishti.
James Dyson Award
The competition is open to student inventors with the ability and ambition to solve the problems of tomorrow. Winning solutions are selected by Sir James Dyson and show ingenuity, iterative development, and commercial viability. With students from 27 markets and regions now competing, the award is set to welcome new approaches to a broader range of global issues than ever before.
Since the competition first opened fifteen years ago, the iconic inventor has already contributed over £1m to championing boundary-breaking concepts. To help finalists to develop their novel idea, each year the International winner is awarded £30,000, and National winners in each participating region receive £2,000. Unlike other competitions, participants are given full autonomy over their intellectual property. New for 2020, Sir James has introduced another international prize: the Sustainability winner, who will also receive £30,000 in prize money.
The James Dyson Award forms part of a wider commitment by Sir James Dyson, to demonstrate the power of engineers to change the world. The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, the James Dyson Foundation, and James Dyson Award embody a vision to empower aspiring engineers, encouraging them to apply their theoretical knowledge and discover new ways to improve lives through technology and design engineering.
