Johann, 22, from South Devon, has achieved a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Product Design Strategies and Digital Prototyping at the Middlesbrough-based University. He first started to think about the design while watching his mother Trudy boil an egg at home.
Johann said: 鈥淧art of our studies involved observing how people deal with products in their everyday lives. I saw the problems my mother was having transferring a hot egg out of the pan, and I then talked to James about designing something to solve this.鈥�
The duo鈥檚 design includes a submersible egg cup and hook-knife. This allows the user to boil the egg in the cup, removing the problem of transferring the egg from boiling water to the cup. The hook knife is also multi-functional; it can fish the egg cup from the pan, cut the egg open and slice any accompanying toast.
James, 23, from Darlington, has also gained the same MSc as Johann and said: 鈥淲e were absolutely ecstatic and over the moon to win the UK round of the competition. We were happy just to make the initial shortlist, and now we鈥檙e in an international final, up against entries from a range of countries, including France, Italy and Japan.鈥�
Johann and James鈥� design will be judged at the international final in D眉sseldorf at the end of this month.