Crain's 40 under 40 Winner: Michael Forbes, 31- Product designer and licensing associate, The He
Michael Forbes, 31
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: Lead industrial designer for Henry Ford's "Model G" patient hospital gown, which improves on traditional gowns.
CURRENT GOALS: To influence designs on other medical technologies and devices. Ongoing project is to integrate 3-D printing with health care procedures.
Michael Forbes moved ahead of the class in 2011 when The Henry Ford Innovation Institute recognized his talent and hired him out of Detroit's College for Creative Studies as an intern designer. Forbes was among the inaugural group of about 15 CCS students who came to work for the institute when it launched.
"He was all set to go to Hasbro to design toys," said CEO Scott Dulchavsky, who talked Forbes into working at the institute. Soon afterward, Forbes was coaching students from the institute to analyze medical products and come up with better ideas. They soon came up with a prototype for a redesign of the traditional hospital gown...
