Judging the 2007 Rhode Island Innovation Awards affords me the opportunity to gain insight into some of the most interesting companies and people in the state. It is an invigorating process.
In fact, the contest, which Providence Business News and the R.I. Economic Development Corporation developed last year to celebrate those leading the innovation charge here, is doing exactly what we want it to do.
This year, the number of entries was up, as was the diversity of winners. For example, the Innovation of the Year is a new bedding product – something that is appropriate for a state so long at the center of the country’s fabric industry. Our Innovator of the Year is a serial entrepreneur whose previous efforts, including a company in Tiverton, have led to successful “exits,” as those in the business of building companies say. Success breeds success, and from our perspective, the Ocean State is birthing a lot of promising enterprises.
In addition, this year we join with the Tech Collective in celebrating the winners, as we take part in the nonprofit’s annual Tech Laureates Night. The night promises to be a wonderful opportunity to recognize where we have come, but also a chance to rededicate ourselves to the road to innovation ahead of us.
Mark S. Murphy, Editor
Read about the winners of this year’s Innovation Awards
• Collaborative Innovation Leader: LOCAL Architectural Research Design.
• Innovation of the Year: CleanBrands LLC’s “bedding encasements” for allergy and asthma sufferers.
• Innovation Champion (for an organization): The Slater Technology Fund, the state-backed venture capital firm supporting local technology startups and expansions.
• Student Innovator: Adam Standley, a master’s degree candidate at Brown University who is seeking to develop a better, cheaper superconducter.
• Rising Star: Matt Grigsby, founder and principal of Design Awareness, for his efforts as co-founder of Ecolect to develop a free Web site that will help builders and designers find sustainable materials
• Innovator of the Year: Robert A. Rabiner, whose IlluminOss Medical Inc. is developing a new system to help broken bones heal more quickly.
• Innovation Champions (for individuals): Brian Jepson and Jack Templin, founders of the Providence Geeks, a networking group for the local tech community.
The 2007 Tech Collective Recognition Awards and their winners were:
• Advancement of Youth in Technology: Lianna (Lee) Fenton, an education consultant and former special-education teacher who developed the U.S. FIRST robotics program now active at five high schools in Rhode Island.
• Exceptional Community Building Partner: The Providence Geeks.
• Excellence in Workforce Development: Condordia Fibers.
• Outstanding Partner: Roger Williams University.
The 2007 Innovation Awards also are the subject of an Oct. 1 PBN Editorial, ““Innovation’s success is key to the future”.
