Edward Astbury wins Top Design award for pill retriever

A vacuum designed to help the elderly pick up pills and small objects from the ground took out a top prize in this year’s design competition. See what inspired the ingenious invention.

Swinburne University student Edward Astbury with his award-winning pill retriever for Top Design 2019.

A young Northcote designer has credited a love of family for his top five finish in a statewide design competition.

First-year university student Edward Astbury was awarded a Deans Art prize and Creative Museums Program internship at Top Design 2019 for his design of an ergonomic pill retriever.

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Mr Astbury said he was inspired by seeing his own grandfather struggle to pick a pill up off the floor while struggling with arthritis.

“I’m very close with my grandfather. Our family is very much set on giving him autonomy at home and making him independent,” he said.

As part of his VCE study in product design at Northcote High School, Mr Astbury created a miniature vacuum to suck up a pill and deposit it into a magnetic storage container.

He took hours of measurements and designs to his grandfather to make sure he could use and understand the product.

NHS student Jasmine Kennedy received a Deans Art prize for her knitted skirt made from old supermarket plastic bags.

“One of the hardest concepts was, because he had mild dementia, it had to be intuitive. You can’t introduce new concepts and new ideas to the elderly,” Mr Astbury said.

The project was one of 85 selected from more than 1100 applications to be on display at VCE Top Designs at Melbourne Museum.

Mr Astbury also received the Deans Art prize for research and development and was one of six selected for the Creative Museums Program, where students spend a week of professional development and education at the museum.

But Mr Astbury said he was just happy to try and make a difference.

“The rewards and all those things are the cherry on top,” he said.

Top Designs curator Sia Smyth said Mr Astbury’s project was a highlight because of its beautiful drawings and extensive 3D modelling.

“His is definitely a passion project. In the six to seven years I’ve done (Top Designs) I’ve never seen an object that addresses this issue,” she said.

Mr Astbury is now studying a computer science at Swinburne University.

Fellow NHS students Jasmine Kennedy, Charlie O’Brien, Yianni Rowlands and Oliver Crawford Smith also featured among the top projects at the exhibit.

Ms Kennedy’s sustainable clothing project, which included a knitted skirt made from old supermarket bags, won the Deans Award for Innovative Use of Resources.

The display is at Melbourne Museum until July 14, for more information visit the museum website.

@richardapearce