Unlike with the Silver and Bronze, to pick our favorites out of the IDEA 2009 Gold Award winners was simply not possible, as the quality at the Gold level is not only best-of-the-best, but the breadth of categories goes well beyond conventional industrial design. Everything from "immersive virtual environment simulators" to vibration-control gloves to conceptual mag-lev transportation systems was represented, and if we had to pick our faves, we'd simply be listing all 31 of the honorees. There is some seriously good stuff in there.

We were excited to see some of the items chosen are things we've posted earlier, like Min Kyu Choi's folding plug, the aluminum MacBook Pro and LED Cinema Display, the LightLane bike lane projector and the Nike Trash Talk sneakers. The latter, by the way, won the Best in Show and deserves its own mention:

Nike Trash Talk

Gold Award/Best in Show Category: Ecodesign Design: Kasey Jarvis, Andreas Harlow, Fred Dojan, and Dan Johnson, Nike (U.S.)

This performance basketball shoe is made from manufacturing waste. It incorporates leftover materials—leather and synthetic leather, foam, and rubber—into new shoes without sacrificing any of the performance aspects that come from shoes made from virgin materials.

Treat yourself to a look at all 31 Gold winners here.