WaterSense project - global winner of James Dyson Award 2025

The innovative 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 monitoring stations. Importantly, WaterSense continuously detects risks to ecosystems, helps predict potential environmental impacts, and prevents ecological disasters. The solution was developed by engineers from Magly in collaboration with the Centre for Advanced Materials and Technologies (CEZAMAT-PW), the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW-PIB), and Nebucode. The project, with the acronym ASIR, is co-funded under the HYDROSTRATEG II program of the National Centre for Research and Development.

Our PhD candidate Filip Budny, general director of Magly and project leader for technical engineering emphasizes that the award is an immense distinction for him and proof that Polish technology can compete globally.

– It all started with winning second place in the Polish edition of the James Dyson Award 2025. Then, we made it to the top 20 inventions in the world, and finally, Sir James Dyson himself selected WaterSense as the winner of the International Sustainability Award 2025 — explains Filip Budny. — This success would not have been possible without close collaboration with CEZAMAT PW, the Faculty of Chemistry, the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology, and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW).

The project continues to evolve — over the past 12 months, more than 20 prototype monitoring stations have been installed across Poland. The team is currently working on implementing new methods of automatic sensor calibration and a biofouling prevention system, which will further improve measurement reliability. At the same time, the team is developing the WaterMap platform, which analyzes and shares data in real time. More details about the ongoing work can be found in the article — and there are already new initiatives planned for the future.

— Now we are entering a very intense phase — preparing for the pre-seed round, which we plan to use to further develop the technology and expand monitoring coverage to Poland’s main rivers, the Vistula and the Oder, by the end of next year. This will serve as a launching point for scaling the project to European markets and building global recognition for WaterSense, with the ambition of making a real impact on the quality of inland waters — says Filip Budny.

As Sir James Dyson wrote on the competition website: "The James Dyson Award supports young inventors who think differently and tackle real-world problems head-on. Our 2025 winners, Filip and Alessandra, are a perfect example — they confront difficult health and environmental challenges, offering practical and ingenious solutions. I hope that winning this award will serve as a springboard for them to commercialize their groundbreaking inventions."

The James Dyson Award is an international design competition that supports and recognizes student inventors who solve real-world problems. The competition is organized annually by the James Dyson Foundation. A team of engineers at Dyson selects 20 global finalists from the national-level winners and runners-up, evaluating entries based on functionality, design process, originality, and commercial potential. From this group, Sir James Dyson personally chooses the global winners.