McMaster grad wins international James Dyson Award

A McMaster student has brought home a global award for his innovation — a device that recycles plastic waste into 3D printer filament.

Swaleh Owais, a McMaster University engineering graduate, and his U.S.-based project partner Reiten Cheng won the 2022 James Dyson Award for global sustainability and approximately $45,000 for their device, Polyformer, an open-source device that recycles plastic bottles into 3D printer filament for a lower cost.

The two-member team entered the international award race after being runners-up for the Canadian James Dyson Award in September of this year.

Owais said the idea was born while working at a makerspace in Rwanda that hosts students and designers to use 3D printers for their designs.

“One of the local designers mentioned to me how frustrating and expensive 3D printer filament was in Rwanda,” Owais recounted. The average price for a 3D printer…