Wheel Pad joins 483 projects, products, and services from Nike, Microsoft, Mastercard, Google, and others
Founder Julie Lineberger at installed Wheel Pad. Photo credit: Carolyn Bates Photography
Vermont Business Magazine Wheel Pad L3C was honored in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards for 2019 as a finalist in the Health category and was given Honorable Mention in the Best Design North America category. Wheel Pad is a universally accessible 200 square foot modular bedroom/bathroom suite designed to connect to an existing home. Wheel Pad provides the opportunity for elders or someone newly experiencing mobility challenges to remain at home, and/or to return home following an accident.
“We are thrilled by this honor, and so humbled to be recognized alongside such businesses as Google, Samsung, and Tommy Hilfinger Adaptive - all who have sleek and innovative designs changing the way we interface with technology and everyday life.” - Julie Lineberger, President/Founder of Wheel Pad L3C.
Innovation by Design is the only competition to honor creative work at the intersection of design, business, and innovation. All the honorees share one thing: a commitment to solving problems, no matter how big or small, as simply and as beautifully as possible.
The awards, which can be found in the October 2019 issue of Fast Company (on newsstands September 17), recognize people, teams, and companies solving the problems of today and tomorrow through design. Fast Company is recognizing an influential and diverse group of 483 leaders in fashion, architecture, graphic design, data visualization, social good, user experience, mobility, and more.
The competition, now in its ninth year, has featured a cross section of blue-chip companies, scruffy startups, and hungry young talents. It is one of the most sought-after design awards in the industry. The judges include renowned designers from a variety of disciplines, business leaders from some of the most innovative companies in the world, and Fast Company’s own editors. Entries are judged on the key ingredients of innovation: functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, depth of user insight, cultural impact, and business impact.
Fast Company editors and writers spend a year researching and reviewing applicants for the awards. This year’s applicant pool was the most competitive ever, with more than 4,300 entries.
Honorees for the 2019 awards were selected in the following categories: Apps and Games; Data Design; Experimental; Fashion and Beauty; General Excellence; Graphic Design; Health; Learning; Mobility; Products; Retail Environments; Social Good; Spaces, Places, and Cities; Students; Timeless Design; User Experience; Workplace; Best of Asia-Pacific; Best of Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Best of Latin America; and Best of North America. Fast Company is also recognizing Nike as the title’s second annual Design Company of the Year for its outstanding efforts merging digital and physical retail experiences.
Source: Wilmington, VT, September 12, 2019. Wheel Pad L3C