AN Australian inventor has taken out one of the world's most prestigious design awards with a bazooka that saves lives, rather than claims them.

Sam Adeloju last night won the £20,000 ($32,000) James Dyson Award, named after and patronised by the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner which carries the Dyson name.

His entry, the Longreach, is a modified bazooka which fires an expanding lifebuoy 150m out to persons in distress.

See the other James Dyson Award finalists

Mr Adeloju, who studies Industrial Design in the Faculty of Built Environment at UNSW, beat other designs from around the world such as a vest that delivers CPR and a sports bag that eliminates odours for the prize.

He gets to keep $16,000 for himself, while the other $16,000 goes to UNSW.

Mr Adeloju told NEWS.com.au that the Longreach was inspired by a grenade-launch training session with the Army Reserves.

Weighing just 3.5kg, it shoots the rescue device 150m in a manner similar to the way the army uses a grenade launcher to deliver flares and aerial observation devices.

Hitting the water activates an expanding foam unit in the Longreach rescue unit, which also incorporates LED illumination and a vortex air whistle.

"Longreach provides the victim in the water with some temporary buoyancy," Mr Adeloju told NEWS.com.au back in August when he was nominated as a finalist.

"It gives the lifesaver or rescuer a bit of time to assess the situation rather than rushing in and risking their lives as well."

He said the big benefit of using expanding foam was there's no concerns of it being punctured by debris in high seas.

Mr Adeloju also gets to tour the Dyson laboratory in the UK as part of his prize.

When he gets home, he'll get down to business and has already been negotiating with Surf Lifesaving Australia about conducting trials.

Last years' winner - a fire extinguisher that can be fitted to a kitchen tap - is now on the market and the runner-up is employed as a Dyson engineer.