10 Positively Inspiring Product Designs Win 2009 IDEA Awards

4. IDEA Gold Award For Commercial and Industrial Products: LiftPod®

Credit:  Geoff Campbell and Jason Watson of JLG Industries, Inc. (Australia); and Dr. Hugh Stark, Frank Fornasari, Sandy McNeil, Mark Armstrong and Oliver Kratzer

You may have seen lifts similar to the LiftPod in big-box stores like Wal-Mart or Costco, but the LiftPod is a uniquely flexible, lightweight, and portable platform that you can even use around your home instead of a ladder.  With a range of 14 feet in heigt, the LiftPod gives you a 360 degree range of motion on its work stand.  It can be assembled in 30 seconds by one person and it's easy to move around.  Safety is important around the home as well as in industrial settings.

5. IDEA Gold Award For Commercial and Industrial Products: TegeraPro Vibration Control Gloves

Credit:  Marcus Gabrielsson, Hans Nyström, Olle Bobjer, Maria Benktzon, Henrik Olsson and Peter Ejvinsson of Ergonomidesign AB (Sweden).

I've heard of so many workers in certain industries with permanent neurological disabilities caused by the intense vibration of the tools required to do their jobs.  What a sad way to retire... not being able to fully use or feel your hands. Let's hope the TegeraPro Vibration Control Gloves help to remedy the terrible damage that can be done by industrial machinery.  They are insulated with a special foam that is supposed to absorb these vibrations.

6. IDEA Gold Award For Medical & Scientific Products: Pathway PV Atherectomy System

Credit: Peter Bristol, Stephanie Barnes and the industrial design and engineering teams of Carbon Design Group, and the engineering team of Pathway Medical.

To a non-medical person the technology of the Pathway Artherectomy System is nothing short of absolutely amazing.  This is a minimally invasive device that removes plaque from peripheral arteries at 60,000 rpm, without causing trauma to arterial walls.  The Pathway uses a proprietary process whereby the bits of plaque are then washed out with saline without them entering the bloodstream.