Nominate a product development achievement for the Path Makers Award
Established by Aalto Design Factory, the product development community at Aalto University, the Product Development Path Makers Award recognizes impactful product development projects, experiments, and initiatives. Presented for the third time this year, the award highlights the role of strategic product development in strengthening companies’ competitiveness, promoting national wellbeing, and addressing global challenges.
This year, the award will be presented jointly by Aalto University, Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK, the City of Espoo, Technology Industries of Finland, Chemical Industry Federation of Finland, Finnish Forest Industries Federation, and the TT Foundation.
Professor Tua Björklund, Director of Aalto University’s Design Factory and Chair of the Award JuryA small country like Finland cannot succeed by copying others; we need to lead the way in product development. In addition to time and money, we need skilled people and effective practices. Product development creates invaluable new value and growth for companies and for Finland — and the value and significance of this work should be made visible.
Nominate an award recipient by 21 October
You can nominate an inspiring experiment, initiative, or project for the award by 21 October 2026. The jury is looking for a team or organization that has created new opportunities and impact by:
1) creating new customer value through pioneering new product development practices
2) bold and successful experimentation challenging established norms, and
3) demonstrating the potential to generate novel opportunities beyond the experiment or activity itself.
The award may be granted to a project team or community that has enacted the experiment or activity. Product development can be an interdisciplinary effort that can target physical or digital products, services or processes.
The recognized product development achievement may relate to physical or digital products, services, or processes. The award jury will select four finalists from among the nominations; they will be announced on 12 November 2026. Each finalist will receive a prize of €8,000. In addition, one finalist will receive the Ekman Award, worth €8,000, based on a public vote.
2025 Award winners:
- Entteri – overcoming adoption barriers with its AI-powered dental X-ray analysis software (Ekman Award winner);
- Saab – bringing a more product-driven and agile innovation model to the defence industry;
- Betolar – reimagining sustainable concrete production through data-driven, low-carbon material development;
- Uute Scientific – advancing customer-driven iteration in microbial extract development across industries.
Senior Advisor Kalevi Ekman, Aalto University School of EngineeringThe winners of the Product Development Path Makers are great examples of how important agile development and collaboration are in product development. The journey from idea to innovation is long and complex, and product developers must be able to inspire others to join in the change.
Nominations can be submitted from 28 August to 21 October 2026 on the award website: www.adf.fi/award
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