Global Air Cylinder Wheels (GACW) has won the 2026 People’s Choice Safety Innovation Award at the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference in Australia for its patented Air Suspension Wheel (ASW), which the Phoenix, Arizona-based engineering company is developing as an alternative to conventional tires on heavy mining equipment.
Chief Operating Officer Darryl Crowder accepted the award for the company, according to a photo caption issued with the announcement.
Recognition from mine-site safety leaders
The Queensland event is one of Australia’s leading mining safety conferences. This year it attracted more than 1,200 holders of Senior Site Executive (SSE) certification, among them mine operators, regulators, union leaders, site managers, health and safety staff, engineers, maintenance workers and equipment suppliers. Five companies, GACW among them, were chosen to present for the Safety Innovation Award.
“This award gives us something extremely important at this stage of our development,” said Harmen van Kamp, CEO and co-founder of GACW, who described the award as “validation and recognition from the people who understand mining safety and the risks involved in these operations”.
“Mining is an industry where safety is never an abstract issue,” van Kamp said. “The people at this conference live with these challenges every day. They understand what happens when equipment fails and why eliminating a hazard can be more powerful than simply finding another way to manage or mitigate it.”
Testing, patents and a base in Australia
The award follows results GACW announced in March, when it reported successful extreme-condition testing of the ASW in iron ore mining operations in the United States.
The company has since opened its first operational Center of Excellence in Australia. GACW says the site puts it closer to mining companies evaluating the wheel and supports the lengthy technical, operational and procurement reviews that new equipment must pass before it can be used across major mine sites.
GACW says its international patent portfolio now includes more than 75 issued patents, with more than 120 applications pending, spanning suspension, damping, tread and mechanical wheel designs. The company says it has raised more than $10.5 million to date through earlier Regulation Crowdfunding rounds and private investment, and it has opened a new Regulation CF campaign seeking up to $2.6 million.
Next step: commercial use
According to GACW, the ASW is moving toward commercial launch after years of engineering development and field testing.
“Our goal remains to give the mining industry a safer, longer-lasting alternative to the conventional tire and help change how heavy equipment moves in some of the toughest operating environments in the world,” van Kamp said.
More information about the company and its technology is available on the GACW website.
