Three student inventions from Southeast Asia have reached the global Top 20 of the 2026 James Dyson Award, and two of them answer problems Malaysians know well: the cost of kidney dialysis and the damage an earthquake leaves hidden inside a building. The shortlist was chosen by a panel of Dyson engineers, and it places young designers from Singapore and the Philippines alongside 17 other finalists from around the world.
Three regional inventions, three everyday problems
From Singapore, the National University of Singapore's Nicolette Wong created momigo, a reusable silicone system that lets expressed breastmilk be stored, warmed and fed from the same container. It seals flat for storage, connects to a warming system when needed, and takes a teat for feeding, so parents carry and clean fewer separate parts when they are out of the house.
From the Philippines, Andrew Jacob Buensalido and Allyson Cabrestante of the University of the Philippines Diliman built BiDaKidney, a low-cost, semi-automated peritoneal dialysis machine. It automates the movement of dialysis fluid and works with widely available dialysis sets. Commercial automated machines can cost RM40,850 and up; BiDaKidney has a target cost of about RM410.
Also from the Philippines, Aldrei Ong of De La Salle University Manila made Sentinel, which turns an ordinary concrete spacer block into an embedded sensor. Made from self-sensing concrete, the block registers changes in electrical resistance when damage occurs and sends the reading out wirelessly. Each block is estimated to cost about RM0.60 to manufacture.
Why these matter here
The dialysis figure lands squarely on a Malaysian problem. At the end of 2024, 55,237 patients were receiving dialysis in Malaysia and another 9,473 started during the year, with 6,648 on peritoneal dialysis. A machine priced near RM410 against RM40,850 is the kind of gap that decides who can access automated treatment at home. Affordable health hardware is a recurring theme in regional research, from devices like the Huawei Watch GT 7 and its Universiti Malaya diabetes study to university labs working on diagnostics.
Sentinel speaks to a different local risk. Malaysia is not highly earthquake-prone, but parts of Sabah are seismically active, and Ranau records the most earthquakes in the country. The magnitude 6.0 Ranau quake in 2015 caused real damage and loss of life, and monitoring there has expanded since. A sensor built into a component already used during construction is a practical way to keep watching a building after the shaking stops. It is also a reminder that Malaysian universities are pushing their own engineering frontiers, including IIUM's 5G and 6G research partnership with U Mobile.
What happens next
Each finalist now moves to the final stage of judging. Sir James Dyson selects the global winners, to be announced on 4 November, and each winner receives RM162,999. This year's 20 projects were picked by 12 Dyson engineers based in the UK, US, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, judged on function, design process, originality and commercial viability.
Kay Yeong, a principal engineer and one of the Top 20 judges, said his favourite entries "surface problems that I didn't know needed solving." On this shortlist, that includes a feeding bottle, a dialysis machine and a block of concrete.
The award has run for 21 years and has supported more than 400 inventions. For the region, three names in the global Top 20 is a marker worth following when the winners are named on 4 November.
