Non-electric oxygen concentration system, Oxynizer, developed by a research team led by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) professor Bae Sang-min / Courtesy of KAIST

Professor Bae Sang-min at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) / Courtesy of KAIST

A research team led by Bae Sang-min, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), has made it into the global top 20 of the James Dyson Award with an innovative electricity-free oxygen concentration system called Oxynizer, designed to assist patients in underdeveloped regions.

According to KAIST and the James Dyson Award, Oxynizer was selected as one of the top 20 finalists in the James Dyson Award 2024 on Wednesday after competing against 1,911 entrants from 29 countries.

The design award was launched by inventor James Dyson in 2005 to encourage engineers to tackle global issues with their ideas and technologies. Dyson will handpick the winner on Nov. 13.

Bae's team was selected as the South Korea winner of the James Dyson Award 2024: National in September after competing against 122 teams. The team was awarded 5,000 pounds ($6,524) in prize money for developing and commercializing the product.

Oxynizer is designed for use in underdeveloped regions with limited power supplies. Powered by bicycle pumps, it separates water vapor and nitrogen from the air through filters made of silica gel and zeolite and delivers oxygen concentrations of up to 50 percent.

"Many patients in underdeveloped regions like India and Africa lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic because there were no oxygen generators available," Bae told The Korea Times.

"For those who had not progressed to severe stages of the disease, even a 50 percent oxygen supply through hand-pressed devices could have made a significant difference. However, the absence of such devices led to many preventable deaths. This inspired the development of a device that could be made quickly for emergencies without electricity."

Unlike those with severe respiratory diseases requiring high-pressure and high-concentration oxygen generators, patients with mild-stage respiratory conditions can get enough oxygen with hand-pressured devices like the one his team designed, Bae noted. However, he said no one had developed and commercialized such a device due to profitability concerns.

Oxynizer / Courtesy of KAIST

"I think the reason there was no such device before was the question of profitability," Bae said. "This is not a device that hasn't existed before. In developed countries like ours, there hasn't been a significant issue with accessing oxygen generators. The device we designed targets the third world, where even basic hospital resources like beds or rooms are unavailable, and most of the world's population still live in that condition."

If the device is selected as one of the winners in the final round, 30,000 pounds in prize money will be awarded to support Oxynizer's commercialization.

It was also selected as one of the top 100 entrants at Prototypes for Humanity 2024 and will be displayed at an exhibition in Dubai from Nov. 17 to 22.

If selected as the top entrants during the exhibition, $100,000 will be awarded for its commercialization.

"I have been visiting developing nations in Africa and other regions every year as part of my study on designs that can contribute to underdeveloped areas," Bae said. "Aside from the awards, I'm also running projects for improving basic infrastructure designs for people in underdeveloped regions, so we have to see what we can do with the device."