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    TechColumbus Hosts 14th Annual Innovation Awards

    TechColumbus honored 14 individuals and companies last night during its 2010 Innovation Awards ceremony at Battelle Hall in the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

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    The 14th annual event, which celebrates the region’s technology industry allstars, kicked off at 5 p.m. with a networking cocktail hour followed by dinner and presentation of the awards. Andrea Cambern of 10TV served as emcee and her colleague Jeff Hogan did live interviews with semi-finalists throughout the ceremony (not unlike those conducted during entertainment awards shows like the Golden Globes).

    Musical numbers, sparklers, and live Twitter updates about the event (using the hashtag #IA10) also were part of the entertainment.

    The semi-finalists in each category were narrowed to three finalists and one winner (with the exception of the High School Student Innovation award category, which had five finalists and two winners). A panel of 70 judges from the local business and technology communities was divided into teams that evaluated all Innovation Award submissions by category and selected the winners.

    To be eligible for the awards, nominees had to demonstrate success in one of the following technology-related fields: information technology, life sciences, advanced logistics, advanced materials, and advanced joining technologies.

    “Innovations Awards creates networking opportunities for professionals in Central Ohio while educating the community of the wealth of talent and resources available locally,” says Alan Arman, CEO of 3X  Systems and the 2009 Executive of the Year (fewer than 50 employees) winner.

    The High School Student Innovation award recipients were Ameya Deshmukh, a senior at Upper Arlington High School, and Kevin Wolf, a senior at New Albany High School.

    The Innovation in Strategic Capital Fundraising award went to the event’s big winner, Minimally Invasive Devices Inc., which also took home the Outstanding Startup Business award and the Executive of the Year (fewer than 50 employees) award honoring the company’s founder and CEO Wayne Poll.

    Headquartered at the TechColumbus facility on Kinnear Road in Columbus, Minimally Invasive Devices is a medical device company that has developed and commercialized FloShield, which preserves vision during laparoscopic surgery.

    The night’s other winners included:

    • • Vanner− Green Innovation
    • • The Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission− Innovation in Nonprofit Service Delivery
    • • Ronald Xu− Inventor of the Year
    • • Joseph Sanda of Astute Solutions− Executive of the Year (more than 50 employees)
    • • Umit Ozkan− Outstanding Woman in Technology
    • • PercuVision LLC− Outstanding Product (fewer than 50 employees)
    • • Mettler-Toledo Inc.− Outstanding Product (more than 50 employees)
    • • Syrus Restaurant Information Services− Outstanding Service (fewer than 50 employees)
    • • Battelle Memorial Institute− Outstanding Service (more than 50 employees)
    • • DNV Columbus Inc.− Outstanding Technology Team
    • • Nationwide Insurance− People’s Choice Award

    To learn more about the TechColumbus Innovation Awards, visit TechColumbusInnovationAwards.org.

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