Top micro and nanotechnology people, products and companies honored
Las Vegas, Nev., September 21, 2006 — Small Times (TM) Magazine presented its highly respected Best of Small Tech Awards at the Small Times NanoCon International conference and trade show today in Las Vegas. This is the fifth annual Small Times (TM) Magazine Best of Small Tech Awards, which spotlight the top leaders and the biggest successes in nanotechnology, MEMS, and microsystems during the past year.
“The award winners and finalists this year truly reflect the diversity of companies and people that are shaping the MEMS and nanotechnology communities – from tools innovators to fabs to companies bringing commercial applications to a wide range of markets,” said Patti Glaza, Vice President and Group Publisher of Small Times (TM).
Best of Small Tech Award: Product
The Small Times (TM) Magazine 2006 Best of Small Tech Product of the Year award goes to an electron microscope that provides critical data for research and development on a highly stable, easy-to-use platform: FEI Titan.
Runners-up are Acrymed’s SilvaGard, Fiberstars’ EFO, Oxonica’s SERS Nanotags, and SiTimes’ SiRes Product Family.
Best of Small Tech Award: Company
CardioMEMS, Inc., captured the 2006 Best of Small Tech Company of the Year award for its new, FDA-approved implantable wireless pressure sensors, which measure pressure changes in the abdominal aorta, promising a relatively inexpensive means of managing patients with congestive heart failure by allowing healthcare providers to adjust patient medication before a crisis occurs.
Runners-up are FEI Company, Micralyne, Nantero, Inc., and SiGNa Chemistry.
Best of Small Tech Award: Business Leader
Chairman, President, and CEO of NeoPhotonics Corporation, Tim Jenks, earned the 2006 Small Times (TM) Magazine Business Leader of the Year award for the successful merger of California-based NeoPhotonics Corp. with Photon Technology, Co. Ltd., in Shenzhen China. The newly merged company has continued to thrive, with $50 million in annual sales, new product launches, European distribution, and additional acquisitions.
Runners-up are Bob Gelfond (MagiQ Technologies), Michael Natan (Oxonica, Inc.), James Rock (Akustica, Inc.), Billy Stanbery (HelioVolt Corp.).
Best of Small Tech Award: Researcher
IBM Research’s Jia Chen discovered a new way to make carbon nanotubes into light sources much brighter than large area Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) Her photon-emitting nanotubes have the potential to be produced with the same processes as conventional electronic components. Chen’s breakthrough research in this area earned her the Small Times (TM) Magazine Best of Small Tech Researcher of the Year award in 2006.
Runners-up are Russell Cowburn (Imperial College, London), James Tour (Rice University), Huikai Xie (University of Florida), and Jie Zhang (Motorola).
Best of Small Tech Awards: Innovator
James M. Tour, Rice University, developed the world’s first nanocar, a single-molecule gadget with a chassis, freely rotating axles, and wheels, measuring in total just three to four nanometers across. Tour’s ultimate goal is the development of nanomachines for bottom-up manufacturing, and it is this vision that earned him the Small Times (TM) Magazine 2006 Best of Small Tech Innovator of the Year award.
Runners-up are James Balcom (Polyfuel), Dan Gamota (Motorola), Magnus Gittins (Advance Nanotech), and Pradeep Haldar (University at Albany).
Best of Small Tech Awards: Advocate
Sean Murdock’s tireless work as the face of nanotechnology earned the Executive Director of the NanoBusiness Alliance our Best of Small Tech Advocate award for 2006. His efforts to educate representatives and senators about the importance of developing commercial nanotechnology helped push forward at least two bills promoting nanotech investment.
Runners-up are Roger Grace (Roger Grace Associates), Matthew Laudon (Nano Science and Technology Institute), Ellen McDevitt (MEMS Industry Group), and Robert D. “Skip” Rung (Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute).
Best of Small Tech Awards: Lifetime Achievement
Morinobu Endo, professor of engineering at Shinshu University, captured the 2006 Small Times (TM) Magazine Best of Small Tech Lifetime Achievement award. This award is in recognition of his contributions as an innovator and researcher with carbon nanotubes. He has devoted a lifetime of research in how to manufacture nanotubes more rapidly and cheaply and how to integrate them into useful objects, such as extended-life batteries. Endo has authored or co-authored more than 40 textbooks and 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature and Science. He has received a long list of awards and honors, including the 2004 American Carbon Society Medal.
About the Awards
This is the fifth year of the prestigious Small Times (TM) Magazine Best of Small Tech Awards. Small Times staff evaluates the nominees along with seven panels of industry experts. Awards are based on accomplishments between June 1, 2005, and June 1, 2006. More details can be found in the September/October issue or online at www.smalltimes.com.
About Small Times
Small Times (TM) Media was purchased in September 2005 by PennWell Corporation, a diversified global media and information company. Small Times (TM) Magazine remains the leading source of business news and analysis about the small tech industry, which includes nanotechnology, MEMS and microsystems. Its circulation is now free to qualified subscribers around the world in both print and digital form. In addition to its news services (Small Times (TM) magazine, SmallTimes.com, Small Times Direct, Small Tech Advantage), Small Times (TM) organizes the leading nanotechnology business conference and trade show in North America, Small Times (TM) NanoCon International. Our annual Small Tech Business Directory is free to all subscribers and provided online as an industry service at SmallTechDirectory.com. For more information, visit www.smalltimes.com.
About PennWell
PennWell Corp. is a diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power, water, electronics, nanotechnology, semiconductor, contamination control, optoelectronics, fiber optics, computer graphics, enterprise storage, fire, emergency services and dental. Founded in 1910, PennWell publishes 75 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, web sites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell’s headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire, Houston, Texas, Campbell, California, Fairlawn, New Jersey, London, England, Moscow, Russia, Schwabisch Gmund, Germany, and Hong Kong, China.
Contact
Deborah Rodriguez
Marketing Communications Manager
Small Times Media Group
PennWell Corp.
Tel: 603.891.9482
[email protected]
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