A spinning turbine that can capture wind travelling in any direction and could transform how consumers generate electricity in cities has won its inventors a prestigious international award and £30,000 prize.

Nicolas Orellana, 36, and Yaseen Noorani, 24, MSc students at Lancaster University, scooped the James Dyson award for their O-Wind Turbine, which – in a technological first – takes advantage of both horizontal and vertical winds without requiring steering.

Conventional wind turbines capture wind travelling only in one direction, and are notoriously inefficient in cities where wind trapped between buildings becomes unpredictable.

In 2015, the “Walkie Talkie” skyscraper on Fenchurch Street in London was believed responsible for creating a wind tunnel that knocked down shop signs and toppled pedestrians.

Originally from Chile and Kenya respectively, Orellana and Noorani were crowned the international winners of this year’s James Dyson award on Thursday, having already clinched the top prize in the UK. Their entry beat thousands of others from 27 different countries.

The annual award scheme is run by the James Dyson Foundation, designer Sir James Dyson’s charitable trust. It challenges young people to “design something that solves a problem” and is open to university students and recent graduates in product design, industrial design and engineering.

O-Wind Turbine is a 25cm sphere with geometric vents that sits on a fixed axis and spins when wind hits it from any direction. When wind energy turns the device, gears drive a generator that converts the power of the wind into electricity. The students believe the device, which could take at least five years to be put into commercial production, could be installed on large structures such as the side of a building or balcony, where wind speeds are highest.

Dyson, who chose the winners, hailed it as “an ingenious concept”. He continued: “Designing something that solves a problem is an intentionally broad brief. It invites talented, young inventors to do more than just identify real problems. It empowers them to use their ingenuity to develop inventive solutions. O-Wind Turbine does exactly that. It takes the enormous challenge of producing renewable energy and using geometry it can harness energy in places where we’ve scarcely been looking – cities.”

Orellana said the pair hoped their device “will improve the usability and affordability of turbines for people across the world. Cities are windy places but we are currently not harnessing this resource. Already we are in discussions with investors and we hope to secure a deal in the coming months.”

Two runners-up – who will each get cash prizes of £5,000 – were also named: a team from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands for their Excelscope 2.0 device to help diagnose malaria, and the Air Chair, a portable chair to assist wheelchair users in airports, designed by Aamer Siddiqui and Ali Asgar from the American University in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.