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Alessio Fontanelli
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Two Halia inhalers, one open, with the James Dyson Award 2025 National Runner-up badge
Integrated System 2025

Halia

An inhaler system for asthma: a molded pulp shell, a reusable mouthpiece and an app that guides each dose. A university project developed with G.D, and national runner-up at the James Dyson Award 2025.

Role Industrial & UI Designer
Team
Alessio Fontanelli
Greta Cesaris
Lorenzo Franci
Ginevra Angrisani

Inhalers leave behind 75 million kg of plastic every year.

01 // THE PROBLEM

Used, and used well

An inhaler only helps if it is taken as prescribed and with the right technique. Most patients miss one of the two, and the inhaler itself ends up as plastic waste.

Adherence
15%
of patients with asthma follow the therapy their doctor prescribed.
Correct technique
31%
of patients use their inhaler correctly, across 144 studies from 1975 to 2014.
Plastic waste
75M kg
of plastic thrown away every year with metered-dose and dry powder inhalers, worldwide (estimate).

Sources. 31%: Sanchis, Gich and Pedersen, Chest 150(2), 2016. 75 million kg: Siscaro et al., Multidisciplinary Respiratory Medicine 21, 2026.

02 // IDEATION

The routine first

Before drawing any part, we drew the whole routine as a storyboard: opening the pulp shell, loading the vial, taking a dose. Each gesture on the object was sketched together with its screen in the app.

Storyboard sketches of a patient opening the shell and using the inhaler

Storyboard and first ergonomic studies.

A raised hand and a Halia inhaler in the air above it
03 // MATERIAL RESEARCH

The pulp shell

The shell had to hold the vial and still be paper. We tested organic binders, from corn starch to rice, and pressed wet pulp into 3D printed molds with clamps until the shell held its shape.

Wet pulp and binders being mixed on the bench
01

Organic binders

3D printed molds held shut with clamps
02

3D printed molds

Close-up of the pressed paper pulp
03

Pressing the pulp

The raw pulp shell prototype
04

The raw shell

Exploded view of Halia: pulp shell, reusable mouthpiece and aluminium vial
04 // SYSTEM ANATOMY

What stays, what goes

The inhaler splits into a part that is thrown away, a part that is kept, and a part that cannot change.

  • 01

    Molded pulp shell

    The outer shell, in post-consumer molded pulp. It protects the vial and goes in the recycling.

  • 02

    Reusable mouthpiece

    Designed in polyether-urethane, to be kept and sanitized in boiling water.

  • 03

    Standard vial

    The aluminium canister and its valve are the ones already in use, so the drug and its approval do not change.

  • 04

    Less plastic

    Single-use plastic drops from about 15 g to 3 g per device, by our estimate.

05 // DETAILS

On the shell

What makes the pack safe to open and readable by everyone. All of it is in the design; the prototype has only some of it.

Render of the tear-off tab around the top of the shell

Tamper evident

A tear-off tab shows whether the pack has been opened.

Render of the whole inhaler with the embossed drug information

Embossing

The drug information is embossed into the pulp.

Render of Braille dots on the side of the shell

Braille

The same information, in Braille.

Render of the inhaler with its protective cap

Cap and counter

A cap keeps the mouthpiece clean, and a counter shows how many doses are left.

A hand holding the inhaler with one hand

One hand

Small enough to use with one hand, in more than one grip.

The drug names on the renders are placeholders; we have no affiliation with the manufacturers.

06 // THREE THERAPIES

Told apart by colour

The same system comes in three versions, and the colour of the shell says which one it is.

Halia relief inhaler with its colour code

Relief

Halia preventive inhaler with its colour code

Preventive

Halia combined inhaler with its colour code

Combined

07 // DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM

Halia Sync

The app, prototyped in Figma, covers three moments: a new vial, a dose, and cleaning the mouthpiece. Times and quantities are design values.

1. A new vial

01

NFC check

Tapping the new vial on the phone reads it over NFC, checks that it is genuine and records the batch.

02

Dose setup

The app sets the counter to the vial's 200 doses and links the drug to the patient's schedule.

2. A dose

03

Preparation

The screen shows how to hold the inhaler, and asks to shake it when the drug needs it.

04

Breathing in

A shape that grows on the screen sets the pace of the breath.

05

Holding the breath

A 10-second countdown, on screen and as vibration, while the drug settles in the lungs.

06

Logged

The app confirms the dose, takes it off the vial's count and adds it to the day's report.

3. Cleaning the mouthpiece

07

Reminder

The app counts the doses and tells the patient when the mouthpiece is due for cleaning.

08

Taking it apart

Step by step, the vial and the pulp shell come off the reusable mouthpiece.

09

Boiling water

The patient is asked to bring water to the boil.

10

In the water

The mouthpiece goes in. The screen uses icons rather than text, so there is less to get wrong.

11

Timer

A 30-minute timer runs in the background.

12

Drying

The mouthpiece comes out and dries in the air, so no water stays in its channels.

13

Back together

The inhaler is reassembled and the cleaning counter starts again.

App screen: NFC check of a new vial App screen: dose setup App screen: preparation App screen: breathing in App screen: holding the breath App screen: dose logged App screen: cleaning reminder App screen: taking the inhaler apart App screen: boiling water App screen: mouthpiece in the water App screen: 30-minute timer App screen: drying App screen: reassembly
08 // IN THE PRESS

Written about Halia

Halia was a national runner-up at the James Dyson Award 2025 in Italy. These are the articles that covered it.

There is no such thing as “away”.

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