Smith’s Cool Design

Massey University Industrial Design student Aucklander Stephen Smith is New Zealand’s top emerging designer winning a $3,000 Dyson Product Design Award for his “Arctic Skin”. The vest stabilizes a sportsperson’s body temperature via a cooling process, which enables them to maintain an optimal physical performance for longer periods while competing. Smith, 24, is leaving New Zealand to take up a 5-year contract at Dyson’s state-of-the-art Research and Design Centre in the UK. He said: “I understand the job will be highly creative, where we will not be limited in our ideas and where we’re tasked with coming up with concepts for the very first stage of product development.” It is the first time in the annual award’s eight year history a winner has been offered employment at Dyson.