James Dyson

For the English footballer, see James Dyson (footballer). For the English physicist, see James Dyson (physicist).

James Dyson
James Dyson, 2011
Born	(1947-05-02) 2 May 1947 Cromer, Norfolk, England
Nationality	British
Education	Gresham's School Byam Shaw School of Art Royal College of Art
Known for	Dual Cyclone bag less vacuum cleaner
Spouse	Deirdre Hindmarsh
Children	3
Website	James Dyson Foundation

Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British industrial designer and founder of the Dyson company. He is best known as the inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the principle of cyclonic separation. His net worth in 2011 was said to be £1.45 billion.

Early life

Dyson was born in Cromer, Norfolk, England, being one of three children. Dyson was sent to Gresham's School boarding school, Holt, Norfolk, from 1956 to 1965, when his father died of cancer. James excelled in long distance running: "I was quite good at it, not because I was physically good, but because I had more determination. I learnt determination from it." He spent one year (1965–1966) at the Byam Shaw School of Art (now part of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design), and then studied furniture and interior design at the Royal College of Art (1966–1970) before moving into engineering.

First inventions

The Sea Truck, Dyson's first product, was launched in 1970 while he was at the Royal College of Art. His next product, the Ballbarrow, was a modified version of a wheelbarrow using a ball instead of a wheel. This was featured on the BBC's "Tomorrow's World" television programme. Dyson stuck with the idea of a ball which his brother had thought of, inventing the Trolleyball, a trolley that launched boats. He then designed the Wheelboat, which could travel at speeds of 64 kilometres per hour (40 mph) on both land and water.

Vacuum cleaners

DC07 Dyson vacuum cleaner

In the late 1970s, Dyson had the idea of using cyclonic separation to create a vacuum cleaner that would not lose suction as it picked up dirt. He became frustrated with his Hoover Junior’s diminishing performance: dust kept clogging the dust bag, reducing suction. The cyclone idea came from the spray-finishing room's air filter in his Ballbarrow factory.

Partly supported by his wife's salary as an art teacher, and after five years and many prototypes, Dyson launched the "G-Force" cleaner in 1983. However, no manufacturer or distributor would handle his product in the UK, as it would disturb the valuable market for replacement dust bags, so Dyson launched it in Japan through catalogue sales. Manufactured in bright pink, the G-Force sold for £2,000 (British equivalent). It won the 1991 International Design Fair prize in Japan. He obtained his first U.S. patent on the idea in 1986 (U.S. patent 4,593,429).

After failing to sell his invention to the major manufacturers, Dyson set up his own manufacturing company. In June 1993, he opened his research centre and factory in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

Dyson's breakthrough in the UK market, more than 10 years after the initial idea, was through a TV advertising campaign that emphasized that, unlike most of its rivals, it did not require the continuing purchase of replacement bags. At that time, the UK market for disposable cleaner bags was £100 million. The slogan "say goodbye to the bag" proved more attractive to the buying public than a previous emphasis on the suction efficiency that its technology delivers. Ironically, the previous step change in domestic vacuum cleaner design had been the introduction of the disposable bag — users being prepared to pay extra for the convenience. The Dyson Dual Cyclone became the fastest-selling vacuum cleaner ever made in the UK, which outsold those of some of the companies that rejected his idea and has become one of the most popular brands in the UK. In early 2005, it was reported that Dyson cleaners had become the market leaders in the United States by value (though not by number of units sold).

Following his success, other major manufacturers began to market their own cyclonic vacuum cleaners. Dyson sued Hoover UK for patent infringement and won around $5 million in damages.

In a highly controversial and bitterly opposed move, his manufacturing plant moved from England to Malaysia, for economic reasons and because of difficulty acquiring land for expansion, leaving 800 workers redundant in 2002. The company's headquarters and research facilities remain in Malmesbury. Dyson later stated that because of the cost savings from transferring production to Malaysia, he was able to invest in research and development at Malmesbury, but further redundancies at Malmesbury were subsequently announced in 2008.

In 2005, Dyson incorporated the wheel ball from his Ballbarrow concept into a vacuum cleaner, creating the Dyson Ball, claiming it to be more maneuverable.

Further inventions

In 2000, Dyson expanded his appliance range to include a washing machine called the ContraRotator, which had two rotating drums moving in opposite directions. The range was decorated in the usual bright Dyson colours, rather than the traditional white, grey or black of most other machines. The item was not a commercial success and is no longer available.

In 2002, Dyson created a realisation of the optical illusions depicted in the lithographs of Dutch artist M. C. Escher. Engineer Derek Phillips was able to accomplish the task after a year of work, creating a water sculpture in which the water appears to flow up to the tops of four ramps arranged in a square, before cascading to the bottom of the next ramp. The creation titled Wrong Garden, was displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show in the spring of 2003. The illusion is accomplished with water containing air bubbles pumped through a chamber underneath the transparent glass ramps to a slit at the top from which the bulk of the water cascades down. This makes it appear that the water is flowing up, when actually a small amount of water diverted from the slit at the top flows back down the ramps in a thin layer.

Dyson Airblade

In October 2006 Dyson launched the Dyson Airblade, a fast hand dryer.

Dyson's most recent addition is a fan without external blades, which he calls the "Air Multiplier".

Personal life and non-business activities

Dyson married Deirdre Hindmarsh in 1968. The couple have three children: Emily, Jacob and Sam.

Dyson paid £15 million for Dodington Park, a 300-acre (1.2 km²) Georgian estate in Gloucestershire, close to Chipping Sodbury. He and his wife also have a £3 million chateau in France, and a town house in Chelsea, London. The Sunday Times Rich List 2008 estimated his fortune at £1.1 billion, while Forbes estimates it at £1 billion.

Dyson was chair of the board of trustees of the Design Museum, "the first in the world to showcase design of the manufactured object", until suddenly resigning in September 2004, stating the museum had "become a style showcase" instead of "upholding its mission to encourage serious design of the manufactured object".

James Dyson Foundation

Dyson set up the Foundation in 2002 to support design and engineering education. This is specially aimed at inspiring young people to study engineering and become engineers by encouraging students to think differently and to make mistakes. The Foundation particularly supports schools in Wiltshire as well as medical and scientific research in partnership with charities. It achieves this by funding different resources such as the "Education box", a box filled with activities for a school to use as a teaching aid. The Foundation loans the boxes to schools for four weeks, free of charge. They are suitable for Key stage 4 and above and can be used in universities. The Education box enables students to take apart and examine a Dyson DC22 Telescope vacuum cleaner. In addition, a school is allowed to retain a James Dyson Foundation teacher pack, and a copy of Genius Of Britain, a Channel 4 TV series featuring James Dyson himself, and design engineering posters. Other resources are also available.

Another way the Foundation inspires young minds is with the James Dyson Awards. This is an international design award that "celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers". It is organised and run by the James Dyson Foundation Charitable Trust and is open to graduates (or recent graduates) in the fields of product design, industrial design and engineering.

Honours

In 1997, Dyson was awarded the Prince Phillip Designers Prize. In 2000, he received the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award. He received an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Engineering) from the University of Bath in 2000. In 2005, he was elected a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2007 New Year Honours. Since 2011, he has been provost of the Royal College of Art.

Autobiography

Dyson, James (1997). Against The Odds: An Autobiography. ISBN 0-7528-0981-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Dyson Company website.
• James Dyson profile at Forbes.com
• BBC notice of Dyson's water sculpture Wrong Garden with photos and diagram.
• Engineering the Difference Dyson's Richard Dimbleby Lecture in 2004
• James Dyson interview on Design at Core77.com
• All of James Dyson's patents and patent applications