I decided to look into it further and had a an initial glance at the business summary and thought this looks pretty interesting on the basis it does what it says on the tin.  I also thought it must be a phenomenal bunch of women that had gone through this pain to understand how to develop the product.  Can you imagine my surprise when I was told the team was entirely male?  Not only was the team all male, but they were involved with the Marines, and designing motorbikes!  Now my interest was really piqued, how could a team of men come up with such an inherently female product?  As I got to know the team I began to understand why.

ROBRADY is a design company, not just a normal design company, but one that really thinks outside the box.  When Dr Stephen Lee approached them with what is now the Ziivaa belt, he had the technique but no real concept of how to design the device to be the most effective in capturing the technology and also allow ease of use.  ROBRADY’s team of designers, engineers, and visualists not only conceptualized the technology into a product but created something that would be easy to use and really effective; they refer to it as “humanizing”.

I had several meetings with the team, and as I got to know Rob Brady and Dr Stephen Lee, I also began to understand that these guys were pretty special, and it struck me that these men had really thought about the product, how a woman could most effectively use the product and how best to look at it from a design perspective.  Initially I thought I would be embarrassed talking to a group of men about something quite personal like menstrual cycles and the level of pain etc., but there was absolutely no awkwardness and the conversation was not only matter of fact, but refreshing in its content.

I was hooked!  I wanted to try this for myself; I haven’t suffered from really severe cramps, but enough on a monthly basis to feel uncomfortable, lethargic and unproductive.  I got one of the first prototypes and it really does work.  Simple and easy to follow instructions, no chemicals, no wires, and really effective technology that creates a solution to an age-old problem.  Yay!  I no longer need to take painkillers, try herbal medicines that tasted vile, or sit for hours with a hot water bottle feeling sorry for myself.  Wearing the belt for 15 minutes, I was ready to take on the world again!

I liked Ziivaa as a company and the people behind it so much that I wanted to be involved and be able to contribute my international and start-up experience to the company and the team.  In July 2010 I became an advisor to the company, the first female to be involved with Ziivaa at that level, and was proud to be working with such forward thinking men.  We all frequently encounter the chauvinistic male dominated culture in the corporate, venture capital and technology space, so to see this new company taking a novel approach in developing a great product was very refreshing.  More than that I love working with a group that is so open and forward thinking in trying to fill a gap in the market where no such solution exists.

What is even more intriguing is that Ziivaa has developed a product that solves an age-old problem and is in a very unique position to bring women of many ages and cultures together on a platform that has a single common denominator.  At the same time it can become so much more in terms of connecting with others around the world, sharing opinions and knowledge on culture, politics, health, and lifestyle.  The community element of Ziivaa is an exciting piece of the story that is unfolding as we speak.

Ziivaa launches commercially in the fall of 2011, it’s a company that has the adrenaline and power of the electric superbikes that ROBRADY designs, but the elegance and charisma of the women that will become the company’s powerful foundation.  One thing is certain, we all subscribe to the “25/8/366” philosophy, and Ziivaa will be a name to watch out for in the very near future.

Shimi Shah is the Executive Director of Ziivaa, LLC. She has been actively involved in fund management and venture capital for nearly 15 years. Shimi has spent over 10 years in venture capital in the US, Europe, and the Middle East. She has managed significant investments and portfolios, with several board seats. Shimi worked as a director at Partnerships UK plc (PUK), a UK Treasury entity in London for over three years. Prior to this, Shimi was Chief Investment Officer at Hanson Capital, managing an Anglo-American technology fund of over $100m, which focused on making investments in Silicon Valley and across Europe. Shimi is an active member of the Young President’s Organisation (YPO).

“The series of events throughout Florida provides an educational venue for investors and financial advisors to learn more from emerging growth companies’ leadership as well as the ROBRADY research to reality process,” said Matt Leiter, director of ROBRADY capital.

ROBRADY design has been successfully developing world-class products for over two decades and ROBRADY capital is passionate about leveraging this experience to develop world-class companies.  “For the past several years ROBRADY capital, our capital division, has been providing alternative investment educational opportunities for our portfolio of emerging growth companies. Now we want to open this information up to the community.”

ROBRADY’s “Roadshow” series grants entrepreneurs and investors even greater access to the company’s product insight, business relationships and associations.

For more information about the “Roadshow” series, including locations of the events throughout Florida, contact Matt Leiter at capital@robrady.com.

As Design Manager at ROBRADY, Donovan manages the daily activities of the studio. Donovan came to ROBRADY from Techtronic Industries, where he was the brand manager for the Ryobi TEK4 line of electronic tools. Prior to that he built and managed the in-house design team at Griffin Technology, the world’s largest Apple accessory brand. Donovan was drawn to ROBRADY by their ‘Research to Reality” capabilities: “I ran across ROBRADY after reading an article about their work on the XTools products and knew I wanted to be a part of their team. I was impressed by the level of innovation and detail that they applied to their projects and the fact that most of their work involved taking products all the way through to production. I like to see products I work on successfully launched into the market and ROBRADY has an excellent track record of doing just that.” Donovan has an Industrial Design degree from Auburn University and has spent the last 17 years building and managing award winning design teams.

Jason Garvale has joined ROBRADY’s Graphic Design team. Garvale came to ROBRADY from Sarasota Magazine, where his responsibilities ranged from publication design to client collateral. He also has done freelance work in the area. After attending Syracuse University, he worked for a multi-service design firm in Los Angeles. Jason was excited about joining the ROBRADY team for the breadth of opportunities available: “I knew I wanted to become a part of ROBRADY for one main reason, balance. After touring the facility, I was amazed at the level of projects generated in-house from concept to completion. ROBRADY is unlike any design studio I’ve been involved with so I knew I would be challenged and ultimately become a more well-rounded designer. The balance of learning from, and contributing to, the success of the company was a huge draw for me to join”.

ROBRADY design is a multi-disciplined product design and development studio that offers its multinational client base—including General Electric, Mercedes-Benz, Dell Computers, Parker Hannifin, AT&T, Merial and Volvo Penta—progressive industrial design, mechanical design and engineering, graphics /packaging / GUI / web and eCommerce design, market research, brand and retail development, complete rapid prototyping and production program management. ROBRADY design stresses comprehensive speed-to-market product solutions by collaborating to identify the greatest areas of opportunity and producing innovative designs to deliver profitable product solutions. ROBRADY delivers design, production and capital solutions to their clients in support of their research to reality philosophy.

ROBRADY was represented by Michael Spieckermann and Claus Fischer of Innovative Bikes (db0 distributors) located in Ludenscheid, Germany. Innovative Bikes distributes the db0 throughout Germany and neighboring countries. Their website is http://www.innovativebikes.de.

The Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country‘s highest distinction in the field of design. It is known as the “Prize of Prizes”. This year, the organizers of the Design Award of the Federal Republic of announced a record number of entries – over 1,500 products were submitted for the competition. 25 winners in the product design category and 24 winners in the communication design category received the Design Award.

ROBRADY design demonstrates its commitment to sustainable design solutions through CEO Robert Brady’s appointment to the board of Advisors of Stealth Electric 4×4 Vehicles, the company’s Green Business Partnership certification and recent accolades from The Green GOOD DESIGN program and The Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Sarasota, FL, (PRWEB) November 3, 2010 – ROBRADY design, a vanguard of innovative and ecologically responsible design solutions for over two decades, has a portfolio that covers multiple industries and a client base that covers the globe. As the company continues to grow, so does its active and demonstrable commitment to sustainable, green design solutions.

In October, CEO Robert Brady accepted a seat on the board of advisors for Stealth Electric 4×4 Vehicles. Stealth, an Atlanta-based company, produces utility vehicles such as the Commander and the 64-volt Apache which are geared for the outdoor enthusiasts from hunters to golfers. “I’m excited to be part of the Stealth team,” says Brady. “They are constantly pushing the limits and redefining what electric 4×4 vehicles can be.”

On the corporate level, ROBRADY design received certification from the Green Business Partnership (GBP) in July. The GBP was initiated through a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to Sarasota County and has over 125 local members. Certification from the partnership recognizes those companies, business organizations and local governments that literally make environmental responsibility part of their business.

And ROBRADY’s dedication to sustainable design continues to garner acclaim in the U.S. and abroad. Last month, the studio won both a Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany and a Green GOOD DESIGN™ Award for its work on the innovative db0 electric folding bicycle.

The Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany is particularly distinctive because it is conferred only on products that have already proven their marketplace excellence by having won previous awards. More than just a high honor, the award provides recipients a means for demonstrating long-term success of their designs and brands.

Similarly, the Green GOOD DESIGN™ award, a specialized edition of the GOOD DESIGN™ program, emphasizes the importance of sustainable design and promotes international awareness of those companies doing the best job in sustainable design for the environment.

One of the largest and most prestigious design awards in the world, the Red Dot is a mark of excellence that serves as a preview of products to come. This year’s competition saw 180 awards issued among a pool of over 3,000 contestants from over 50 countries.

Andy Morrison, CEO of Wizard Machines, maker of the Rescue Wizard, approached ROBRADY with the concept for this life-saving tool unlike anything on the market. Leveraging mechanical and industrial design expertise, the studio exceeded the concept profile, delivering a device with great humanitarian and commercial appeal. Aside from obvious rescue applications, the Rescue Wizard could be indispensable for road crews, the forestry service, the military and outdoorsmen as well.

Andy Morrison of Naples, Florida founded Wizard Machines in 2008. Morrison had the idea for the Rescue Wizard for over 25 years, but until recently, the technology did not exist to achieve his vision for a reliable machine that was both light and durable. Then, in 2008 he discovered a new rope that had all of the attributes of steel cable but at 10% of the weight. Around that time, the devastating Sichuan, China earthquake struck, destroying as many as 600,000 structures in just seconds. These two events motivated him to search for a firm that shared his vision for the Rescue Wizard. His search culminated in a collaboration with ROBRADY design and the founding of Wizard Machines. Morrison has invested the last two years and substantial personal funds to bring make the Rescue Wizard to reality.

ROBRADY design is a multi-disciplined product design and development studio that offers its multinational client base—including General Electric, Mercedes-Benz, Dell Computers, Parker Hannifin, AT&T, Merial and Volvo Penta—progressive industrial design, mechanical design and engineering, graphics /packaging / GUI / web and eCommerce design, market research, brand and retail development, complete rapid prototyping and production program management. ROBRADY design stresses comprehensive speed-to-market product solutions by collaborating to identify the greatest areas of opportunity and producing innovative designs to deliver profitable product solutions. ROBRADY delivers design, production and capital solutions to their clients in support of their research to reality philosophy.

Unappreciated by the world is the fact that in today’s elusive studio of motorcycle design America is a major player – for some, the major player. Dozens of designers, engineers and craftsmen are creating some of the most exciting and innovative motorcycles the world has ever seen – ever dreamed about. This doesn’t just mean “yet another chopper”. It means names like Confederate, Ecosse, Fischer, Roehr, Vectrix (producing an electric sportbike), and MotoCzysz in addition to, and no less worthy in this context, the establishment Harley-Davidson with Buell, Victory, and even Indian. Award-winning author Alan Cathcart visits twenty-five shops interviews the designers and engineers and rides the motorcycles. Each shop, interviewee and motorcycle has been photographed especially for this book.

Check out the following excerpt from the book featuring the rMoto Electrix Superbike. You can also download a PDF file here. To purchase a copy of American Dream Bikes by Alan Cathcart click here.

The Rescue Wizard is a gas-powered, man-portable winch capable of pulling loads as heavy as 12,000 lbs. (5,443.108kg). Designed for simple operation under the hardest circumstances, the winch can be used where destroyed roads and tight fits make heavy machinery and vehicles unfeasible and when electric power is unreliable, impractical (e.g. in or near water) or even nonexistent. As such, the winch is ideal for emergency rescue workers, forestry personnel, road crews and the military. With the Rescue Wizard, ROBRADY has surpassed the concept profile, leveraging mechanical and industrial design expertise to realize Morrison’s vision for a life-saving device with great commercial appeal. Aside from obvious rescue applications, the Rescue Wizard could be indispensable for road crews, the forestry service, the military and outdoorsmen as well.

The International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA®) competition is a celebration of the year’s most inventive and creative product and product concept designs. Of the entries submitted, the judges recognize Finalist, Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. This year the competition received the most entries since it began 30 years ago. Out of 407 finalists, 38 were honored with the Gold award; while 64 received the Silver award and 88 won the Bronze award. IDSA has partnered with the Henry Ford in Dearborn and all finalists from this year will go into the permanent collection of the museum.

Andy Morrison of Naples, Florida founded Wizard Machines in 2008. Morrison has had the idea for the Rescue Wizard for the past 25 years. Over the years, with every disaster, Mr. Morrison thought about that ideal machine but the technology did not exist to achieve the needs he envisioned for a reliable machine that was light and durable in nature. Finally, in 2008 he became aware of a new rope that had all of the attributes of steel cable, but with 10% of the weight.  At about the same time there was a devastating earthquake in Sichuan, China that collapsed as many as 600,000 structures in a matter of seconds.  Those two events motivated him to begin a search for a firm that shared his vision.  That culminated in his collaboration with ROBRADY Design, of Sarasota, Florida, and the founding of Wizard Machines. Morrison has invested the last two years and substantial personal funds to bring the dream for the Rescue Wizard to reality.

ROBRADY is well known for their design prowess in the electric scooter and super bike world, but this is their first foray into the electric bicycle market. Fritz Maffry of the Dynamo Group, who is currently reviewing the db0 3.0 for North American distribution, sees the bike as a breakthrough, with the “same caliber of design DNA as products from Apple or Sony”. Maffry has been reviewing the bike and commented that “a crowd gathered when we were on our test drives” and feels that ROBRADY and DK City succeeded in elevating the design game in electric bicycle market. The Dynamo Group, which specializes in commercializing breakthrough light electric products, is keeping an eye out for future collaborations of ROBRADY and DK City – as Maffry states: “Can’t wait to see what they have coming next”.

ROBRADY has several interactive displays planned for their booth this year. In addition to the db0 folding bicycle, they will be featuring their XTools floating fishing equipment, Identity Stronghold Secure Sleeves, and the Vectrix VX-1 Maxi Scooter. They will be reaching out to technology companies to offer design, production and capital solutions. Dickie Herbst, Director of New Ventures for ROBRADY, will be available Friday morning at the booth and is looking forward to meeting with technology groups in the Tampa Bay area. Matt Leiter, Director of ROBRADY capital, will be available Friday afternoon as well.

CoolTECH, hosted by the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, is annual event featuring a display of interactive experiences designed to showcase the coolest technology coming out of the Tampa Bay region and beyond. Attendees check out cutting edge technology, gain insight from industry leaders and take part in interactive voting for the coolTECH Awards. The event attracts hundreds of attendees from the technology and business community and has something for everyone including industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and students. CoolTECH 2010 will take place June 4 at MOSI in Tampa.

ROBRADY design is a multi-disciplined product design and development studio that offers its multinational client base—including General Electric, Mercedes-Benz, Dell Computers, Parker Hannifin, AT&T, Merial and Volvo Penta—progressive industrial design, mechanical design and engineering, graphics /packaging / GUI / web and eCommerce design, market research, brand and retail development, complete rapid prototyping and production program management. ROBRADY design stresses comprehensive speed-to-market product solutions by collaborating to identify the greatest areas of opportunity and producing innovative designs to deliver profitable product solutions. ROBRADY delivers design, production and capital solutions to their clients in support of their research to reality philosophy.