The Industrial Designers Society of America's International Design Excellence Awards (IDSA IDEA®) 2017—honoring the best in industrial design and related fields—is open for entry through March 17, 2017. Enter at IDSA.org/IDEA.

IDEA 2017 Jury Chair Owen Foster, IDSA, is leading more than two dozen design experts from around the world in judging 20 categories covering products and more in almost every aspect of life from entertainment to environments; health to home; office to outdoor; social impact to sports. This year, there are two revitalized IDEA categories: Branding—recognizing identities, collateral and logo applications; and Consumer Technology—representing everything from smart phones and navigation systems to computers and mobile devices. Gold and Silver winners will be announced at the IDEA Ceremony and Gala on Aug. 19 in Atlanta, coinciding with IDSA's International Design Conference 2017: Design IS Business, chaired by Jeevak Badve, IDSA.

Foster, of SHiFT Design Camp and Aether Global Learning, has a diverse background in architecture, landscape, environmental and industrial design—facilitating projects with Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola and General Electric. Honored as IDSA's Educator of the Year in 2015, Foster has guided study programs in Ireland, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. "I'm honored to have been selected as the jury chair for IDEA 2017—celebrating design insight, talent and innovation. We've assembled an amazing group of individuals from an array of design fields to serve on this year's jury, so IDEA is at the forefront of redefining what design could and should be."

Joining Foster on the IDEA 2017 jury are:

Ana Arriola, IDSA, Samsung
Kristine Arth, fuseproject
Jordan Bahler, IDSA, Delta Faucet Company
Ti Chang, IDSA, CRAVE
Ryan Eder, IDSA, IncludeFitness
Nick Foster, X, (formerly Google[x])
Marc Greuther, Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation
Dan Harden, IDSA, Whipsaw
Scot Herbst, Herbst Produkt
Vincenzo Iavicoli, IDSA, College for Creative Studies
Glenn Johnson, IDSA, B/E Aerospace Design Group
Michael Kahwaji, IDSA, Whirlpool Corporation
Christopher Kuh, Ammunition Design Group
Sheng-Hung Lee, I/IDSA, Shanghai Institute of Visual Art
Johan Liden, IDSA, aruliden
Alex Lobos, IDSA, Rochester Institute of Technology
Chrissy Naples, IDSA, Dolby Design
Verena Paepcke-Hjeltness, IDSA, Iowa State University
Tony Parker, Massey University College of Creative Arts, University of New Zealand
Bryce Rutter, PhD, IDSA, Metaphase, IDSA Ambassador
Nasahn Sheppard, IDSA, REI
Joe Stitzlein, Stitzlein Studio
Pip Tompkin, IDSA, Pip Tompkin Design Studio, IDSA Ambassador
Jon Winebrenner, Hurdler Studios
Lionel Wodecki, GE Healthcare Global Design

Entries in IDEA 2016 came from Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America, North Africa and the Middle East. Countries included Austria, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Great Britain, Hungary, India, New Zealand, Italy, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

IDEA 2016 triple winner, The Access Strength, scored Gold, Best in Show and Design for Equality. "Winning IDEA fundamentally changed everything—everything," declares Ryan Eder, IDSA—designer of The Access Strength along with Priority Designs and AWH. Eder first made headlines in IDEA 2007 when his design concept for The Access Strength won Gold, Best in Show and People's Choice. "It's hard to put into words how meaningful this recognition is for me," says Eder, who is now an IDEA 2017 juror. "The initial recognition from IDEA enabled me to change my entire life and pursue this vision." (Eder spoke at IDSA's International Design Conference 2016 and will address IDSA's Central District Conference 2017).

Other IDEA 2016 winners include designs for major companies such as Audi, BMW, Dell, Dolby, Fisher-Price, Google, LG, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, Nextbit, Olympus, Panasonic, Ryobi and Rolls Royce; lifesaving products such as Emergency Medical System, Moyo Fetal Heart Rate Monitor, Treo Advanced Mobile Imaging and BoneAid; and cutting edge innovations in drones, robotics and virtual reality (VR).

Onsite jurying will be held at the iconic Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. Bronze winners will be announced in mid-May.

For more information on sponsorships contact KatrinaK@idsa.org. For more information on media interviews, contact SudhaK@idsa.org. Follow the excitement on #IDSAIDEA #IDSA17Atlanta @IDSA on Twitter; Industrial Designers Society of America on Facebook and LinkedIn; and @IDSAdesign on Instagram.