Limerick graduate shortlisted for James Dyson Award for scalp-cooling chemotherapy device

24-year-old Olivia Humphreys is a recent graduate of the UL where she studied Product Design and Technology, is now working as a Research and Development Intern at Luminate Medical in Galway working on medical device tech.

She was inspired to create Athena having seen her mother go through chemotherapy in hospital a few years ago. Olivia was taken aback by the limited number of scalp-cooling devices available in the hospital as well as the inconvenience of the time it took to commit to this, not being able to move around whilst using industry standard hospital devices, and the time that could be saved with an improved version.

This inspired her to create Athena which would be mobile, light to carry and powerful. Athena is a portable, at-home thermoelectric battery-operated scalp cooling device and there are currently only a handful across the country meaning many chemo patients do not get the option of using one.

Olivia now enters the final stage of the James Dyson Award 2024, with global winners to be selected by Sir James Dyson and announced on November 13. The winning inventions will receive €38,000 to support their further development and commercialisation.

Speaking about Athena, inventor Olivia Humphreys says: "Being recognised by the James Dyson Award has been an incredibly fulfilling experience.

"It reflects the invaluable input I've received from patients and care staff that helped me, along with the passion and hard work I have put in to get it to this point. I am truly grateful to have my project acknowledged on such a big stage.

"It's exciting to know that the work I've done has the potential to make a real impact, and I'm inspired to keep pushing forward."

Talking about the design of Athena, she says: "This initial prototype for Athena provided a strong foundation to build upon, and I received valuable feedback on things like how to make it more compact by optimising components like the water tank, pump, and battery. I began refining the design into a smaller, lightweight carry case.

"As I moved forward, the product designer in me started creating more usability-focused prototypes, experimenting with different headpiece configurations and forms to ensure user comfort. The most exciting aspect of Athena is its potential for further development.

"My early conversations with engineers have been very positive, filled with discussions about ideas and possible tweaks. It's exciting, there is a lot to be done!"