Obi, a product by DESĪN, LLC that Sundberg-Ferar helped realize, was awarded the highest honor in its category at the 20th annual Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA). Sundberg-Ferar was a consultant for the design and engineering of this dining robot that won the Gold Prize in the Rehabilitation and Assistive-Technology Products category.
To learn more about Sundberg-Ferar’s contribution to the product, click here.
To go to the product’s website, click here.
Obi serves as an eating aid for individuals who lack upper extremity function. It gives them the ability to relax and socialize while eating independently – an experience most of us take for granted.
The winning products were chosen based on design and engineering innovation, function and user-related innovation, patient benefits, business benefits, and overall benefit to the healthcare system. The panel of judges for the competition included practicing doctors, nurses, and technicians as well as industrial designers, engineers, manufacturers, and human factors experts. Jon Dekar, DESĪN’s Founder, CEO and the inventor of Obi commented: “Winning this award has been a decade-long held dream – we are incredibly honored, and I’m incredibly proud of the team, which includes our contractors and suppliers.”
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In addition to Obi, Sundberg-Ferar has designed and engineered many medical products including hospital beds, tools for open-heart surgery, infant nebulizers, and electromagnetic bone growth stimulators. Sundberg-Ferar is proud to have contributed to a product that enables a more fulfilling and inspiring life for so many through the simple pleasure of eating.