Smart and Sustainable Bike Wheel Is U.S. Winner of James Dyson Award

James Dyson, maker of the bladeless wonderfan that has allowed UnBeige HQ to make it through the summer sans air conditioning, and his industrial design-boosting foundation have announced the 18 regional winners of the 2010 James Dyson Award competition. The top American entry is the Copenhagen Wheel—a plug-and-play wheel that turns a regular bike into a smart, electric hybrid—invented by Christine Outram and a team of students at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab. Controlled through a rider’s smart phone, the wheel can capture the energy dissipated when breaking and cycling and save it for later use.