TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Memorable moments


more appealing look or I could place it at the top where it was more accessible. I designed in CAD both options yet the more I thought about it, the clearer the decision became, by far the best option was to incorporate it on top of the product. This was because by placing it on top there was more time for the pill to accelerate when falling and less horizontal distance to travel. This meant that there was less chance of the pill getting stuck and jamming the system. This also meant that there would be more space inside Autopill to fit electronics meaning that this decision would both benefit me and the user. After designing the shell the next problem was designing the moving parts. The most challenging aspect of this was designing the inner rotating cogs which would release the pills from there slot allowing them to be dispensed. Designing these cogs proved to be difficult as I had to make each the right size so that they wouldn’t jam and also make the size of the teeth of each cogs the same size. This proved to be more challenging then originally thought as the large cogs diameter had to fit within the width of the Autopill but big enough to hold the pills yet after many alterations I found the


As an engineer at the start when I had an idea about how I wanted to design it, I was set and not open to changing my view on how Autopill could work. But later on, I realised it’s extremely important to look over all the different ways something can be designed with


equal consideration. Aaron Lord, 2025 Young Engineer of the Year


optimal sizes and the cogs fitted with little spare room.


Were there any ‘lightbulb’ moments or memorable moments of discovery or creative thinking that made a difference to your idea? Do you have any future development plans for Autopill?


My lightbulb moment: building the pill dispensing mechanism was a real lightbulb moment. I realised that the best way to dispense the pills was for the entire floor


of the tray to rotate and there would be a hole in one part which meant that after a small rotation the pills from a slot would fall through. This rotation was caused by the motor rotating in the middle. This was a extremely simple yet super effective way of getting the pills to fall. And this also taught me that in most cases simplicity is better ESPECIALLY in a market specialised in tech for elderly – a thought process I carried through to the rest of Autopill. I have many future development plans


for Autopill which I’m super excited about. I’ve taken winning the competition as a proof of concept, that something like Autopill is wanted and needed in the world. The next step is building it up to consumer standards. I hope to use the prize money to improve every aspect of Autopill, including adding more slots, adding a touch screen and adding far more health monitoring data, this will help both the user experience and aid the carers job meaning they can look after patients more effectively.


What were your biggest learnings about the design and engineering process from entering the competition?


Aaron Lord catching up with Simon Adamson, IHEEM President-Elect, and CEO Pete Sellars.


12 Health Estate Journal February 2026


I’d say my biggest learning experience was to refine, refine, refine. As an engineer at the start when I had an idea about how I wanted to design it, I was set and not open to changing my view on how Autopill could work. But later on, I realised it’s extremely important to look over all the different ways something can be designed with equal consideration. Some of the features in most proud of with Autopill came from designing a feature that I wasn’t overly confident could work and just thinking about it and seeing what was good and what could be changed to make it work.


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