Global Air Cylinder Wheels® (GACW), the innovator behind the patented Air Suspension Wheel® (ASW), has recently won the 2026 People’s Choice Safety Innovation Award at the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference in Australia.
The award represents the latest milestone for GACW as the company advances from years of engineering development and real-world testing toward commercial deployment, it says. Since its last major operational update earlier this year, GACW has also opened its first operational Center of Excellence in Australia and launched a new Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) campaign through StartEngine with the goal of raising up to $2.6 million.
The recent developments reflect growing industry acknowledgment and operational progress for GACW as it works to introduce a non-pneumatic mechanical alternative to conventional off-the-road (OTR) mining tyres, the company says.
“This award gives us something extremely important at this stage of our development – validation and recognition from the people who understand mining safety and the risks involved in these operations,” Harmen van Kamp, CEO and Co-Founder of Global Air Cylinder Wheels, said. “These are people responsible for health and safety on mine sites, those who make and influence operating decisions, and who realise the problems we are trying to solve. To have the Air Suspension Wheel recognised by this audience is tremendously meaningful for our company and everyone who has worked to bring this technology to the industry.”
The Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference is one of Australia’s leading mining safety gatherings. The 2026 conference brought together more than 1,200 Senior Site Executive (SSE) certification holders from across the resources sector, including mining operators, regulators, union leaders, site leadership, safety and health management, engineers, maintenance professionals and equipment suppliers.
GACW was one of five companies selected to present for the conference’s Safety Innovation Award. The company presented the Air Suspension Wheel and its potential to prevent tyre-related failure modes through a mechanically constrained Air Suspension Wheel system. Conference attendees then voted on the competing innovations, selecting GACW as the award winner.
Unlike conventional OTR tyres, the ASW is a steel-based, non-pneumatic mechanical wheel that uses in-wheel suspension cylinders and dampers. By eliminating the large pressurised tyre chamber used in traditional mining tyres, the technology is intended to remove stored-pressure energy risks associated with tyre failures while reducing worker exposure during tyre maintenance and changeout procedures. And the ASW, therefore, has been declassified as a pressure vessel.
GACW developed the ASW to replace the traditional tyre, rim and chain assembly while addressing dangers associated with tyre pressure, overheating, catastrophic failure and high-energy maintenance activities.
The Australian recognition follows another major validation milestone announced by GACW in March, when the company reported successful extreme-condition testing of the ASW in the Iron Ore belt mining operations in the US. That program marked validation of GACW’s 13th-generation suspension cylinder design and helped move the company further from research and development toward manufacturing maturity and commercial deployment, according to the company.
GACW is also expanding its physical presence in one of the world’s most important mining markets.
The company recently opened its first operational Center of Excellence in Australia. The Australian expansion places GACW closer to mining companies evaluating its technology and provides additional infrastructure as the company works through the extensive technical, operational and procurement processes required before new equipment can be deployed across major mine sites.
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