Minnesota High Tech Association and Minnesota Technology, Inc. Announce the
State's Top Technology Companies and Leaders
MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The most outstanding technology
innovators in Minnesota over the past year received top honors at the 2005
Tekne Awards, held last night at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Presented
by the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) and Minnesota Technology Inc.
(MTI), in partnership with Medical Alley/MNBIO, the Tekne Awards annually
recognize Minnesota's best and brightest technology users and developers.
"This year's list of Tekne Award recipients included individuals and
organizations of all sizes and from a wide range of practice areas under the
technology umbrella," said Kate Rubin, president, MHTA. "The diversity of
technology leaders and innovators recognized is a testament to how important
Minnesota's high-tech industry is to the state's economy."
Judges for the awards selected one recipient among three finalists in each
of 17 categories, honoring different facets of the high-tech industry and
technology education in Minnesota. Award categories recognized leaders and
technology businesses that are emerging (with annual revenues under $50
million) and established (with annual revenues of $50 million or more).
The complete listing of 2005 Tekne Award categories and recipients
includes:
INNOVATION AWARD, which honors a business, academic institution, teacher,
or business or academic collaboration that has demonstrated leadership,
dedication and excellence in the development of an innovation in areas such as
digital technology, nanotechnology, micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS),
medtech or biotech, genomics or bioinformatics, or other areas of life
sciences research with the potential to contribute significantly to
Minnesota's technology industry and economy.
-- Emerging company recipient is Minnetonka-based Virtual Radiologic
Consultants (VRC). VRC eases demands of healthcare providers by
connecting 450 client healthcare institutions nationwide with over 50
widely distributed radiologists in a common, secure, proprietary
network via the largest wide area network (WAN) of its kind.
-- Established company recipient is Rochester-based IBM Corporation. IBM
developed the Blue Gene/L supercomputer with calculating rates
approaching one petaflop (a million billion operations per second),
which may soon process information that could reveal secrets about
Alzheimer's, Cystic Fibrosis and Mad Cow Disease.
-- Innovation in Teaching recipient is Timothy Jump of Benilde-St.
Margaret's School in St. Louis Park. Only the second year the award
has been presented, the Innovation in Teaching award is being given to
Jump for creating the Advanced Competitive Science (ACS) program at
his school, and for leading his students to victory over graduate-
level college students in the U.S. Open RoboCup competition. Jump's
students went on to represent the United States at the World Cup in
Japan.
TECHNOLOGY COMPANY AWARDS, which recognize companies or divisions within
established companies that exemplify entrepreneurial spirit and promise
continued economic growth through technology development or application in one
of six categories:
1. Advanced Manufacturing -- Advanced materials and chemicals, machinery
and equipment, electronics and components, measuring instruments,
photonics, optics and lasers, and computer and peripheral equipment.
-- Emerging company recipient is Eden Prairie-based Micro Dynamics
Corporation. Micro Dynamics has realized compound annual growth
rates of 20 percent with its offering of electronics contract
manufacturing solutions, and has the ability to build over 2,000
different assemblies for its customers.
-- Established company recipient is Entegris of Chaska. Entegris
creates products that purify, protect and transport materials used
to manufacture semiconductor, data storage and life sciences
products. In addition, Entegris has created components used in
over 70 percent of today's fuel cell automobiles.
2. Biotechnology -- Agriculture, environmental, food science and
pharmaceuticals.
-- Emerging company recipient is Celleration of Eden Prairie.
Celleration developed the MIST Therapy System, which produces
ultrasonic waves to deliver an energized mist of sterile saline
solution to a wound, reducing the healing period without direct
contact.
-- Established company recipient is Minneapolis-based Cargill.
Cargill Animal Nutrition developed new ways to manage the heat
produced by a hog's digestion and balance the carbohydrate portion
of the animals' diet, which results in healthier hogs and higher
producer profitability.
3. IT-Software, Communications and Infrastructure -- Software, networking,
communications, and wireless equipment and products.
-- Emerging company recipient is Eagan-based Gearworks. Gearworks'
flagship product etrace(TM) is wireless software that can transmit
driving directions to mobile workers or let customers know where a
delivery is, using real-time mapping.
-- Established company recipient is Eden Prairie-based Fargo
Electronics. Fargo Electronics is a global leader in the
development of secure technologies for card identity systems,
having sold more than 100,000 systems in 80 countries worldwide.
4. Medical Technology -- Devices, diagnostics and equipment.
-- Emerging company recipient is Vital Images of Minnetonka. Vital
Images developed software that creates two-, three- and four-
dimensional anatomical images that help diagnose conditions more
accurately, plan surgery less invasively and screen for certain
cancers and heart disease at an earlier, more treatable stage.
-- Established company recipient is SurModics of Eden Prairie.
SurModics developed a system for continuous drug delivery,
combining a polymer coating with an implantable coil that sustains
constant release of medication in a specific location within the
body.
5. Technology Services -- Finding innovative solutions for a client's use
of technology.
-- Emerging company recipient is Magenic of Minneapolis. Magenic is a
Microsoft-focused custom application development firm that has
developed business and technology solutions for more than 180
Minnesota companies and was named the 2005 Microsoft Partner of
the Year.
-- Established company recipient is Eden Prairie-based Ingenix.
Ingenix's pharmaceutical solutions business, i3, created Aperio, a
registry of drug experiences from over 11 million people that will
help identify safety issues (such as bad reactions to certain
drugs) faster than before.
6. Technology User -- Innovative application of products or services
resulting in dramatic business improvement or market advantage.
-- Emerging company recipient is WindLogics of St. Paul. WindLogics
has developed innovative methodologies that assess long-term
financial risk associated with wind energy development.
-- Established company recipient is Golden Valley-based Honeywell.
Honeywell minimized manufacturing steps by using a single platform
design to create its new family of PRO thermostats. The robust
"electronics excellence" manufacturing processes reduce
development time for subsequent products by 50 percent.
LEADERSHIP AWARD, which honors an outstanding individual who, beyond a
specific innovation or achievement, has contributed significantly to
Minnesota's technology expansion.
-- Emerging company recipient is Win Wood, vice president of strategic
programs, Micro Dynamics Corporation. Wood helped grow Micro Dynamics
from a 12-person electronic design shop to a 450-employee design and
electronic manufacturing services company serving the medical,
industrial, telecommunications, computing, military and aerospace
markets.
-- Established company recipient is Janet Dolan, president and CEO of
Minneapolis-based Tennant Company. In addition to helping Tennant
achieve more than $500 million in revenue, Dolan serves as president
of the Minnesota Business Partnership and chairs an SEC subcommittee
examining the effects of Sarbanes-Oxley.
About MTI
Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization
whose mission is to help its business customers gain competitive advantages,
support their growth, and contribute to Minnesota's economic vitality. It
fulfills this work through a statewide staff of expert professionals who have
tested expertise across a wide variety of business, technology, manufacturing,
engineering, publishing and research disciplines. In the last three years, MTI
has helped nearly 2,000 Minnesota companies and made a significant economic
impact. It helped create and retain over 2,500 jobs, saved its clients more
than $70 million, and helped generate $80 million in new technology
investments. For more information visit http://www.minnesotatechnology.org .
About MHTA
The Minnesota High Tech Association accelerates the growth, success and
sustainability of Minnesota's technology-based economy through public policy
advocacy, member collaboration and education, and community outreach. MHTA is
the only membership organization that represents Minnesota's entire
technology-based economy. MHTA members include organizations of every size -.
involved in virtually every aspect of technology creation, production,
application and education in Minnesota. MHTA works in partnership with AeA,
which represents Minnesota's technology organizations nationally. More
information on the MHTA can be found at http://www.mhta.org .
SOURCE 2005 Tekne Awards
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Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/144694.html
CONTACT:
Peter Lindstrom of Minnesota High Tech
Association, +1-952-230-4551, or plindstrom@mhta.org ; or
Danielle Engholm of Padilla Speer Beardsley Inc.,
+1-612-455-1764, or dengholm@psbpr.com
Web sites: http://www.mhta.org
http://www.minnesotatechnology.org
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