Uni-Systems, Newcomer to the Industrial Fabrics Industry, Recognized with Two Prestigious Awards

Nov. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- During the Industrial Fabric Association International Expo Americas 2012, the largest specialty fabrics trade show in the Americas, Uni-Systems received the Industrial Fabrics Foundation 2012 Innovation Award for its new En-Fold retractable fabric roof product and received the IFAI’s 2012 International Achievement Award of Excellence for its Juvia Restaurant project in Miami Beach, FL, which features the company’s En-Fold product in a high-style rooftop setting.

Uni-Systems, LLC, a Minneapolis based company, has spent the past decade as a leading engineer and provider of large-scale kinetic structures, with iconic projects such as the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, six other large retractable stadium roofs, and the unique retractable playing field at University of Phoenix Stadium. Over the past two years, however, Uni-Systems has taken its expertise and moved into a new market with the new En-Fold product, a high-performance retractable roof system designed for large commercial applications such as outdoor dining areas, event centers, pool decks and sports facilities. En-Fold is a customizable product designed to fill a market niche between off-the-shelf and custom one-off retractable membrane structures.

The Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) Innovation Award was presented to Uni-Systems during the Industrial Fabric Association International’s (IFAI’s) Annual Meeting which was held during Expo Americas at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston, Mass. on November 8.

The Innovation Award seeks to inspire companies from all over the world to not only come up with great ideas, but make them happen and to recognize specialty fabric innovators who have designed and developed extraordinary products or processes that can make a difference in today’s competitive marketplace.

The IFF has been the philanthropic voice of the specialty fabrics industry for nearly 20 years, providing scholarships for higher education and grants for research, development and industry awareness. As an industry foundation, IFF brings voices and resources together to advance the specialty fabrics industry and to act as catalysts for innovation.

The IFAI’s International Achievement Award of Excellence recognized the Juvia Restaurant project for design excellence in specialty fabrics applications in the competition’s Retractable Awnings & Canopies category.

IFAI received a total of 335 entries from 14 countries that were submitted for 30 categories in this year’s competition and all entries received prominent recognition in a gallery on the show floor. Winners were selected based on complexity, design, workmanship, uniqueness and function. Judges included industry experts, editors, architects, educators and design professionals who were chosen for their knowledge in a particular field of study or product area.

For more than six decades, the International Achievement Award (IAA) has recognized excellence in design and innovation, highlighting truly spectacular work in the specialty fabrics industry. The goal of IAA is to promote awareness of the specialty fabrics used in thousands of products and applications ranging in size and type.

Photos and detailed project descriptions of the IAA winners are available at ifaipublications.com/iaa/ (http://www.ifaipublications.com/iaa/). Information on the IFF and the Innovation Award is available at http://www.indfabfnd.com/home. Information on the IFAI and the 2012 Expo Americas is available at http://www.ifai.com/

Information on Uni-Systems and the En-Fold product are available at www.en-fold.com