• Dave Berger from Cooper Union for Solar Lights, an affordable solar-powered lighting system for the millions of people living in remote, rural regions of Africa and the rest of the world.

• John Dreher and Mike Norelli from Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their idea, MC Shared, a human-centered energy monitoring system that empowers Americans to be more energy efficient in their homes.

• Edgar Rudberg from the University of Minnesota for designing The Community Cactum Rainwater Collection System, a kit that aims to help water deprived communities collect and store rainwater.

“The focus of the contest is on the design of products, services, and business ideas that have an environmental and social benefit,” said Angela Nahikian, director of global environmental strategy and programs for Steelcase. “The quality of work submitted by the students was impressive and the winners should be commended for understanding and succinctly conveying the social and design aspects of their ideas.”

Steelcase partnered with Net Impact, a global organization of over 10,000 students and professionals committed to using business skills to improve the world, and Greenbiz.com, the leading online information resource on how to align environmental responsibility with business success, to select the winners. Students were required to submit their idea in 500 words or less and were encouraged to submit design files, concept papers, drawings, business plans or photographs.

For winning, the students received a full student scholarship to attend the 2009 Greener by Design conference. Winners will be recognized at the event and have the opportunity to present their work to conference attendees. Scholarship winners can take advantage of all conference sessions, keynotes, networking opportunities, and have the ability to meet executives from some of the world’s best-known brands.

NeoCon ’09 is going down at the normal spot June 15-17. bkm OfficeWorks will be sending its standard contingent of San Diego’s finest. We look forward to seeing the familiar faces at this years show. For more info visit www.neocon.com.

Steelcase Mexico was honored with the distinction of “Socially Responsible Company” at the 2009 Latin American ESR Conference in Mexico City. This is the first award for the global office environment manufacturer’s Mexico site in the area, and Steelcase is the first company in its industry to earn this honor.

Steelcase Inc and Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI), the global leader in the design and manufacture of floors, ceilings and cabinets, today announced a collaboration initiative to market products branded Steelcase by Armstrong that address the problem of noise in the workplace. The first product to be released under this collaboration is SoundScapes®, a portfolio of acoustical canopies and clouds intended to reduce noise level and reverberation time in open plenum and suspended ceiling environments.