A student-designed cartridge syringe, created for use in disaster zones, has won the 2013 Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) award.
Chris Natt, a student at the Royal College of Art, landed the $1,500 prize, which also includes a placement with Bayer MaterialScience at its headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany.
His Project Sting syringe was called an "innovative and new way to tackle disasters" by DIP chairman, Martin Sixsmith, formerly from Bayer MaterialScience.
"This competition has been the perfect platform for design students across the UK and Ireland to be creative and design a product that could help make a big difference," he added.
The second placed student, James Scott (Northumbria University) won £500 plus a placement with new competition sponsor Innovate Product Design, for his 'Rain Pod', which provides shelter during monsoons and also harvests clean drinking water.
The third prize of £250 and a placement with product consultancy PDD was awarded to Thomas Hamilton (Loughborough University) for his 'Zebro' leg splint, based on a secure binding system controlled for the first time by a ratchet dial.