Custom Awards to Celebrate Orthopedic Innovation: A Spotlight on Bennett Awards’ Work with OMTEC 2025
2025 OMTEC Custom Aluminum Award, designed by Bennett Awards
Part 1: Project Overview – Who, What, When, and Why Bennett
Earlier this year, ORTHOWORLD®, the creators of the internationally acclaimed Orthopaedic Manufacturing & Technology Exposition and Conference (OMTEC), approached Bennett Awards with an exciting new project. Their request: design a sleek, custom trophy for the inaugural OMTEC Awards—a new addition to their 2025 conference, held June 17–19 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Chicago.
The goal was to create a distinctive, modern award that would embody the innovation and leadership being honored at OMTEC, the orthopedic industry’s premier educational and networking event. As first-time clients, the ORTHOWORLD team brought a fresh, tech-savvy approach to the process—sharing a variety of AI-generated renderings to illustrate their vision.
Though this was our first direct engagement with ORTHOWORLD, we were familiar with their reputation for excellence and their deep connections in the orthopedic manufacturing space. We were honored to bring their inaugural awards program to life.
Part 2: Design Journey – From Concept to Collaboration
The creative process began with a series of intricate renderings shared by the OMTEC team. These concepts leaned toward a traditional aesthetic, but through collaborative discussion, we collectively identified an opportunity to pivot toward a sleek, minimalist design that better reflected OMTEC’s forward-thinking identity. A simpler, more modern form also aligned well with two critical considerations: budget and timeline.
We worked closely with ORTHOWORLD to refine the vision, ultimately landing on an 8-inch tall custom trophy machined from aluminum and finished with a striking blue powder coating—carefully matched to OMTEC’s brand color. The award features the stylized “O” from the OMTEC Awards logo, making the shape both symbolic and instantly recognizable. A black powder-coated aluminum base grounds the design, with the full event logo printed prominently on the front.
Despite the accelerated production schedule, the project progressed smoothly thanks to open communication and timely feedback. The biggest challenge? Transforming a wide array of AI-generated ideas into a unified, manufacturable form that balanced design sophistication with simplicity. Through iterative design work and mutual trust, we achieved a finished product that delighted both client and recipients.
Part 3: The Final Product – Sleek, Symbolic, and Celebration-Ready
The final award design is a strong visual representation of OMTEC’s mission to “educate, connect, and empower the people who build orthopedic products.” The smooth contours of the aluminum “O” highlight innovation and modernism, while the powder-coated finish reinforces a strong brand identity. The base’s custom print showcases the OMTEC Awards branding, ensuring the trophy feels equally at home on an executive’s desk or in a corporate awards display.
Each award was designed to celebrate excellence across three categories:
Groundbreaking Device Design
Next-Gen Innovator
Bold Leadership
The awards were officially unveiled at the Keynote Breakfast Ceremony on June 18, where winners were honored in front of peers and industry leaders. Later that day, recipients participated in a panel discussion to share insights and lessons learned—a meaningful way to extend the impact of the awards beyond the stage.
Part 4: Results & Impact – Celebrating Excellence with Measurable Reach
Feedback on the awards was overwhelmingly positive and enthusiast. OMTEC organizers noted that the trophies were “very well received by our recipients and everyone else who got to check them out during OMTEC.” Several attendees offered compliments on both the design and the symbolic weight they carried. “Thanks again for your partnership on this project!” the OMTEC team shared, emphasizing the collaborative success.
The reach of the awards extended far beyond the ceremony:
Hundreds of OMTEC attendees witnessed the awards ceremony and panel.
The awards were prominently featured in the June 2025 issue of BoneZone Magazine, an industry-leading publication.
They also appeared in the official OMTEC 2025 Conference Program, ensuring additional exposure across the orthopedic sector.
From a broader perspective, OMTEC 2025 attracted a global audience of over 200 exhibitors and hundreds of OEM executives, engineers, and product developers. This included strategic leaders from companies like Johnson & Johnson MedTech, Enovis, and Foundation Surgical—winners of the inaugural awards.
Each of these companies represents a bold step forward in orthopedic advancement:
Foundation Surgical was honored for its Vertiwedge Intraosseous Device, a 3D-printed, FDA-cleared implant redefining motion-preserving spinal surgery.
Johnson & Johnson MedTech received the Next-Gen Innovator award for its VELYS™ Robotic-Assisted Platform, which is advancing spinal robotics and redefining the surgical landscape.
Enovis™ earned recognition for Bold Leadership after surpassing $1 billion in reconstructive sales and rapidly scaling its innovative AR, knee, and shoulder solutions.
By creating custom awards that were visually striking and deeply symbolic, Bennett Awards helped set the stage for a celebration that will become an annual highlight in the orthopedic community.
Final Thoughts
At Bennett Awards, we’re passionate about creating more than just trophies—we build symbols of innovation, leadership, and achievement. The success of our collaboration with OMTEC 2025 not only marked the launch of a new awards tradition, but also demonstrated the power of thoughtful design to elevate an event and honor the changemakers within an industry.
We’re proud to have played a role in shaping the inaugural OMTEC Awards—and excited to see how this program continues to evolve in the years ahead.
