Adam is a six-year-old boy living with dystonia – a neurological movement disorder that makes sitting difficult for him. Max Konstinsky, an industrial design student, and Shani Erlich, Adam’s personal aide at kindergarten and herself an industrial design student, developed a custom-made floor chair that meets this challenge.
“Adam’s Chair,” won the grand prize of $3,000. The chair is a personalized seating solution developed to provide stability, comfort, and functional support for a user with complex physical needs. Designed around Adam’s unique requirements, it allows him to sit more safely and securely, maintain optimal posture, and participate more independently in everyday activities. The two worked within the framework of the ‘Fixperts’ course at HIT Holon Institute of Technology, under the guidance of Prof. Gad Charny and lecturer Katie Levine.
Prof. David Rawet, Dean of the Faculty of Design: “The ‘Fixperts’ courses complement and enrich the faculty’s leading activities at the vital intersection of design, medicine, and rehabilitation. As part of their studies, students gain hands-on experience of design’s practical power to change reality and respond to the everyday needs of those who require it. That is why the ‘Fixperts’ course is now completing its 12th year.”
Adi Kitrey, Head of the Industrial Design Department: “One of the core values we strive to instill in our students is social responsibility – our ability, as designers, to change reality, particularly for populations with special needs that require unique solutions. The department’s ‘Fixperts’ course, led by Prof. Gad Charny and lecturer Katie Levine, puts this into practice. I congratulate the students on their win and on the recognition the course and the department have received for their efforts to guide students toward design projects with meaningful social impact.”
Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) is an international non-profit organization that connects makers, engineers, designers, healthcare professionals, and people with disabilities to develop accessible, open-source assistive technology solutions that address real, unmet needs. By working directly with the users themselves, TOM develops solutions that promote independence, inclusion, and quality of life. All solutions are documented as open source and published in the organization’s library, so that anyone, anywhere in the world, can produce, adapt, and improve them.
The TOM Global Innovation Challenge (GIC) is an annual international competition inviting students, makers, engineers, and designers from around the world to develop technological solutions for people with disabilities. Projects are evaluated by an international panel of judges, and the most outstanding among them receive international recognition and cash prizes. This year, 362 participants from 12 countries took part — Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, and the United States — and prizes totaling $13,750 were awarded to seven winning projects: four grand prize winners, one winner of the 3D-printed mobility chair accessory prize, one winner of the documentation prize, and one honorable mention.
Idan Sela, CEO of Tikkun Olam Makers: “I congratulate all the winners of the 2026 TOM Global Innovation Challenge. This year, 362 participants from 12 countries proved that innovation knows no borders. Each of the projects developed is the result of collaboration with a person facing a real challenge, with the goal of creating a simple, accessible solution tailored to their needs. Because all the solutions are published as open source, they can reach many more people around the world and improve their lives.”
