LIFTBOT, KEWAZO's battery-powered material lifting robot, won Gold at the 2026 Edison Awards in the Engineering & Robotics category, sub-category Mechanically-Augmented Labor. Heitor Gartner, President of KEWAZO's US business, accepted the award on April 16 at the Caloosa Sound Convention Center in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Edison Awards, founded in 1987 and named after Thomas Edison, are widely described as the Oscars of Innovation. The 2026 cohort drew 149 finalists from more than 20 countries, judged by a panel of 3,000+ executives, scientists, engineers, and academics on four criteria: concept, value, delivery, and impact. Gold is the top tier in each sub-category. Past Edison Achievement honorees include Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Gwynne Shotwell. This year's gala also recognized NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Rihanna.

Why this category, why now

Mechanically-Augmented Labor recognizes technologies that mechanically extend a worker's physical capability rather than replace the worker outright. The framing matters. The industries where LIFTBOT operates, refineries, petrochemical plants, scaffolding contractors, and energy infrastructure, are too unstructured and too safety-critical for full autonomy. The question is not whether to automate the worker out of the picture. It is how to give the worker leverage.

The numbers behind that question are stark. Ninety-two percent of US construction firms report difficulty filling positions, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. The industry is short roughly 500,000 workers heading into 2026. One in five US construction workers is over 55. Manual material handling is the part of the job that breaks bodies and pushes experienced workers into early retirement. Removing it changes the math on what a single crew can finish in a turnaround window.

What the judges saw

LIFTBOT sets up in 20 minutes, runs on battery, and lifts material at 138 feet per minute up the side of a scaffold. It removes the manual chain of workers that traditionally hauls boards, tubes, and clamps from ground level to working height. The same crew completes more work in the same shift. Owners report up to 70 percent reduction in man-hours on the lifting portion of a job.

Edison judges scored the system not on novelty but on impact: a market-ready solution operating at industrial scale today. KEWAZO has units deployed with customers including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, BASF, and LyondellBasell.

Frank Bonafilia, Executive Director of the Edison Awards, described the 2026 cohort as "finalists who aren’t just competing for recognition; they’re joining a community where the connections made often become as transformative as the innovations."

For KEWAZO, the next step is straightforward. More units in the field. More crews protected from the worst of the lift.

View the KEWAZO finalist page at the Edison Awards →