Morph Wheels Win Popular Science Award

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Nov 15, 2013

Popular Science magazine has tapped Maddak's folding Morph wheelchair wheels as a "Best of What's New" winner.

Each year, Popular Science editors choose 100 "Best of What's New" innovations "that are reshaping the future right before our eyes."

In describing the wheels, Popular Science says, "Traveling with wheelchairs can be tough. Even when all folded up, they're too big to stow easily in a small trunk or overhead compartment, in large part because of the wheels. Maddak's Morph Wheels are a standard 2 feet tall, but jointed rims and solid tires let them fold into half that height."

Popular Science Executive Editor Cliff Ransom said the Best of What's New is the publication's top award, and that the winners were among thousands of products considered.

"Each winner is handpicked and revolutionary in its own way," Ransom noted. "Whether they're poised to change the world or simply your living room, the Best of What's New awardees challenge us to see the future in a new light."

Contest product categories include Aerospace, Auto, Engineering, Entertainment, Gadgets, and Health, the category Maddak competed in.

"We're honored to receive such a prestigious award from Popular Science," Maddak Director of Operations & Product Management Kathleen Hanek said in a news announcement. "Morph Wheels were created in true collaboration with the wheelchair user community, and we're proud to have developed a product that addresses a real need."

Morph Wheels fit manual chairs that have quick-release axles. Maddak says the folded wheels can fit into small spaces, including the overhead bins on an airplane.