From a cleaner freight train to an automated beehive, a way to recycle fabric, and other bold, new technologies, the 5th annual awards honor the products, concepts, companies, policies, and designs that are pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet.
Houston, May 4, 2021 — The winners of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honoring the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation when it comes to solving health and climate crises, social injustice, or economic inequality.
Velentium’s role in “Project V,” in which the company worked on the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19 alongside Ventec and General Motors to help mass-manufacture ventilator systems to meet increasing critical care demand, was selected as an honorable mention in the “Pandemic Response” category. The Houston-based company quickly scaled its operations to source, assemble, document, verify and supply the automated test systems for VOCSN systems. In four weeks, they delivered 90 test systems of a total of 141 to ensure the respiratory systems met FDA-approved design standards.
Velentium also received honorable mention accolades in the “Established Excellence” category, recognizing that the company has achieved incredible impact thanks to its business ethos, proven stability and day-to-day operations of delivering on behalf of clients.
Now in its fifth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 33 winners, more than 400 finalists, and more than 800 honorable mentions—with Health and Wellness, AI & Data among the most popular categories. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more. Plus, several new categories were added, including Pandemic Response, Urban Design, and Architecture. The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.
Showcasing some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling exigent global challenges, Fast Company’s Summer 2021 issue (on newsstands May 10) highlights, among others, a lifesaving bassinet; the world’s largest carbon sink, thanks to carbon-eating concrete; 3D-printed schools; an at-home COVID-19 testing kit; a mobile voting app; and the world’s cleanest milk.
“The Velentium team was humbled to play a role in the historic Project V effort alongside incredible partners – the collaboration between large and small companies was truly world changing,” said Dan Purvis, CEO of Velentium. “For more than a month, our expanded engineering and technical staff worked 16-hour days, seven days a week to assist in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We could not be prouder of how our people came together in the face of worldwide adversity to produce life-saving ventilators.”
“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”
About Velentium:
Headquartered in Houston, Texas with operations globally, Velentium is a professional engineering firm that specializes in the design and manufacturing of therapeutic and diagnostic active medical devices for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100s. The company offers world-class expertise in software, usability, cybersecurity, electrical and mechanical development for medical equipment. Velentium transforms IP into safe and secure products that will support healthcare professionals, patients and communities, and ultimately, change lives for a better world. For more information, visit www.velentium.com.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards:
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
Media Contact:
Victoria Cook, Pierpont Communications for Velentium, vcook@piercom.com, 713-627-2223