Car jack lifts another major award

Last night an innovative ‘airbag’ car jack developed in conjunction with engineers from Sheffield Hallam University won yet another major national award, when Leeroy Brown beat off stiff competition to scoop the coveted Consumer Award at the BBC’s Tomorrows World Awards, in association with NESTA.

He collected the £5000 prize at a glittering awards ceremony, held at London’s Television Centre. Leeroy had secured his place at the awards by winning his round of BBC ONE’s Best Inventions, broadcast in January.

The Airjack 2000 is powered from the car’s cigarette lighter and uses a compressor to inflate a rubber airbag, which raises the car safely and easily. The judges, who included inventor Trevor Bayliss, saw the car jack in action and had first hand experience of how it may save future motorists some of the grime and strain involved in tyre changes.

The Airjack has attracted great interest from sources including retail outlets and a major car manufacturer. Leeroy`s next challenge is to find a manufacturing partner to take the product through the final stage.

Leeroy, from Birmingham, who had the original idea, works for the Asda supermarket chain and brought his concept to Sheffield Hallam University’s engineers for development. Design engineer, Stuart Scholey of the University’s SCEPTRE team, commented on Leeroy`s continual success:

‘It`s great to see Leeroy’s idea getting the attention it clearly deserves after the time and effort he has put into the project. This is also an excellent example of the sort of work we do here, taking good initial ideas through to finished, usable, marketable reality.’

Leeroy has now secured backing from a venture capital company and hopes that the Airjack 2000 will soon become a standard accessory on new cars, making motorway pit stops, safer, cleaner and less frustrating.