WaterSense takes 2nd place in the national stage of the James Dyson Award

The project involves researchers from three units of the WUT: the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, the Faculty of Chemistry, and CEZAMAT.

The WaterSense technology enables real-time water quality management. It is a comprehensive system for identifying threats to rivers, based on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and using autonomous measurement stations. Importantly, WaterSense continuously signals risks to ecosystems, allows for the prediction of potential environmental impacts, and helps prevent ecological disasters. The solution was developed by engineers from Magly, in cooperation with the Centre for Advanced Materials and Technologies (CEZAMAT-WUT), the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW-PIB), and Nebucode.

The innovative WaterSense technology enables real-time water quality management.

Our doctoral student Filip Budny, CEO of Magly and Technical Engineering Lead for the project, emphasizes that the recognition in the James Dyson Award brings great satisfaction and confirms that the project has real potential to change the way water quality is monitored worldwide. 

“It is also proof that, among the many submitted solutions, ours caught the attention of the jury. I believe they appreciated the fact that we are changing the paradigm of measuring water quality parameters — from traditional laboratory electrodes to flexible, replaceable sensors created using printed electronics technology. Participating in the competition itself was extremely inspiring — it allowed us to look at our project from a broader perspective and to see how it fits into global environmental challenges,” says Filip Budny.

Over the past 12 months, more than 20 prototype measurement stations have already been installed in Poland.

“We are continuously validating our design, sensing, and power solutions, and some of the results are publicly available on the www.watermap.pl  platform. These are still prototypes, but considering the short development time, I think it’s an impressive result. I am extremely proud of our entire team and very grateful to all units supporting the project — in particular CEZAMAT WUT, the Faculty of Chemistry, and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Technology — as well as the administrative departments that have been providing outstanding support from the very beginning,” notes Filip Budny.

He adds that he expects the prototypes to soon operate fully autonomously for extended periods without the need for servicing, while measuring water quality parameters with laboratory-level accuracy. He also believes that the project’s results will be groundbreaking — not only in Poland but also across Europe and worldwide.

The team is currently working on implementing new methods for automatic sensor calibration and a biofouling prevention system, which will further improve measurement reliability. At the same time, they are developing the WaterMap platform, which analyses and shares data in real time — which is an important step, as information about water quality should be publicly available to everyone, just like air quality data today.

“It’s an intense but exciting time for us — we are happy that our project is being recognized not only in Poland but also internationally. The distinction in the James Dyson Award is not our only achievement in recent months,” summarizes our doctoral student. The team has also received the Rzeczpospolita Innovation Eagle Award and the SoDA Innovation Award, reached the finals of the Puls Up Carpathian Startup Fest, the semifinals of Infoshare, and Filip Budny was awarded the Rzeczpospolita Young Inventor Award (2024).

The project, under the acronym ASIR, is co-funded by the HYDROSTRATEG II programme of the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR).