Two Canadian students have made the global Top 20 shortlist for the 2026 James Dyson Award, with inventions that could help detect Parkinson’s disease earlier and make respiratory testing less unpleasant.
Dyson announced the 20 finalists today, October 14, picking student inventions from around the world that take on problems in healthcare, accessibility and sustainability. The eventual winners get £30,000 GBP (about $56,282 CAD) to keep developing their projects.
One of the Canadian finalists is Hyunjae Noh from OCAD University, whose invention SoleTrace uses a smartphone and AI to study wear patterns on shoes, looking for subtle changes in how someone walks that could signal early Parkinson’s disease. It is meant as a screening tool, not a replacement for a medical diagnosis.
The other is Yonatan Morocz from McGill University, creator of AnemoSwab. Instead of a nasal swab, the device collects particles from a person’s breath in about two minutes, producing a concentrated sample for PCR or rapid testing. It needs no external power, which could make respiratory testing far less uncomfortable for patients.
Elsewhere on the shortlist: NURA, a wristband from Germany that uses AI to translate sign language into speech; CaneSight from China, an AI-powered white cane that helps blind people find entrances and landmarks; BiDaKidney from the Philippines, a lower-cost machine that automates peritoneal dialysis; and Rumble Rims from Harvard, an affordable eye-tracking headset meant to help spot concussions on the sidelines.
Canadians have won this competition before. In 2022, Polyformer, a project from McMaster University students, took the global sustainability award for a machine that turns discarded plastic bottles into 3D printer filament. We covered the 2022 awards here.
The 20 finalists were chosen by a panel of 12 Dyson engineers judging on functionality, design process, originality and commercial viability. The final call goes to James Dyson himself, with the global winners announced on November 4.
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