Trevor Baylis
Product Design Judge | 2008
Trevor Baylis is world-renowned as an inventor and product designer. It all started in 1991 when he saw a television programme about the spread of AIDS in Africa and he set about developing the Wind Up Radio. His first working prototype ran for 14 minutes and in 1994 was featured on the highly rated Tomorrow’s World TV programme. The product’s potential was immediately recognised and the following year BayGen Power Industries was set-up in Cape Town, South Africa employing disabled workers to manufacture the Freeplay Wind Up Radio
Trevor was awarded the OBE in 1997 for services to Africa, he now regularly lectures at universities and colleges and has become a well-known ambassador for invention and inventors.
Trevor continues his tireless work to promote the concept of ‘personal power’. His biography entitled “Clock This” has been on the bestseller list.
In September 2003 Trevor teamed up with a group of experienced business professionals to create 'Trevor Baylis Brands', a company formed to help inventors learn more about their inventions, how to go about protecting them and seek routes-to-market for the commercially viable ideas. The business successfully became a PLC one year later.
In 2005, Trevor received an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Leeds Met. On the conferment of the award, he said: “Thank you for presenting me with this wonderful award. I had no idea that the radio would come as it did; I just played around with a concept and idea.
“I always said that I don’t mind people looking down on me as long as they don’t expect me to look up, but I say it’s better to be looked over than overlooked.
“I would like to say to the students... always follow your heart and remember life is not necessarily about money. Do what you adore and what you like. Chance favours the prepared mind and all you students are now fully prepared for what lies ahead."
Trevor Baylis OBE judged the Product Design Category of the Northern Design Competition in 2008.
