Company Finalists, Individual Winners, Teacher of the Year and Student Winners Announced for Arizona Technology Council's 2012 Governor's Celebration of Innovation

PHOENIX, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Arizona Technology Council in conjunction with the Arizona Commerce Authority, today announced Student and Teacher Awards as well as Individual Award winners and Company Award finalists for the 2012 Governor's Celebration of Innovation Awards (GCOI) presented by Avnet, Inc. Honoring the state's centennial year, the event has the theme of "100 Years of Innovation: 1912-2012" and will take place November 8, 2012 from 3:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center, 100 North Third Street, in the North Building, 100 Level.

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"The GCOI awards event honors leaders whose vision, passion and dedication are helping to change the world and propel Arizona to a position of economic strength," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. "I congratulate this year's teachers, students, company finalists and individual award winners, all of which are truly making a difference."

The winners and finalists were evaluated and chosen by a selection committee of experts independent of the Council. Committee members included:

• Hunter Bennett, OneNeck IT Services
• Susan Engle, Avnet, Inc.
• James Goulka, ATIF
• Dr. Mani Janakiram, Intel Corporation
• Charlie Lewis, AzTE
• Mary O'Reilly, PhD, CEM, Science Foundation Arizona
• Bob Rasmussen, Honeywell Aerospace

The Individual/Company Award winners are:

• William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year: Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology
• Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year: Bob La Loggia, CEO of Appointment-Plus

One company within each of the following award categories will be announced as the winner at the GCOI event:

The Company Award Finalists are:

• Pioneering Award: IO, Phoenix, Arizona; Northrop Grumman Technical Services: STEM Innovation Campus Project, Sierra Vista, Arizona; Signature Technology Group, Phoenix, Arizona
• Green Innovator of the Year: ECOtality Communications, Phoenix, Arizona; Solar Zone at the UA Tech Park, Tucson, Arizona; Tucson Embedded Systems, Tucson, Arizona
• Innovator of the Year - Start-Up Company: EquiSight LLC, Phoenix, Arizona; Harmonic Cold Plasma™, Scottsdale, Arizona; HealthTell LLC, Scottsdale, Arizona
• Innovator of the Year - Small Company: CellTrust Corp., Scottsdale, Arizona; FiREapps, Scottsdale, Arizona; StormWind, Scottsdale, Arizona
• Innovator of the Year - Large Company: American Express, Phoenix, Arizona; Enghouse Interactive, Phoenix, Arizona; IBM, Tucson, Arizona
• Innovator of the Year – Academia: School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Arizona; McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, The University of Arizona

The "Future Innovators" and "Teacher of the Year" award winners were evaluated and chosen by a selection committee independent of the Council including members of the Arizona Council of Engineering and Scientific Associations (ACESA). ACESA supports, promotes and coordinates programs and activities of the engineering and science associations within the state of Arizona through facilitated communication and leadership.

Teacher of the Year Award Winner:

• Sandra Trevino, Buena High School, Sierra Vista, Arizona
  Trevino teaches advanced mathematics. She has been the Math Department Chair for the past 12 of her 29 years teaching. Trevino was the first teacher to earn her National Board Certification in her school district; her certificate is in Adolescence and Young Adult Mathematics. She will receive her Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) certificate from the NASA Endeavor Fellowship in 2013.

Teacher of the Year Award Honorable Mentions:

• Christopher C. Brandt, Saguaro High School, Scottsdale, Arizona
• Margaret Wilch, Tucson High Magnet School, Tucson, Arizona

Future Innovators of the Year Award Winners:

• Sirtaj Bir Singh and Sumedha Ravishankar, Empire High School, Tucson, Arizona
• Kapil Kanagal, Brophy College Prep High School, Phoenix, Arizona
• Sarah Sakha, Xavier College Prep HS, Phoenix, Arizona
• Ostin Zarse, Tucson High Magnet School, Tucson, Arizona

Future Innovators of the Year Award Honorable Mentions:

• Soumya Kambhampati and Thomas Liu, McClintock High School, Tempe, Arizona
• Nicolle Mathews, Paragon Science Academy High School, Chandler, Arizona

In addition to a night of networking, awards, food, and entertainment, the event will feature a Technology Showcase with over 50 booths, providing an opportunity for award finalists and sponsors to discuss and demonstrate their exceptional products and services to the over one thousand attendees. Awards will be presented in a theatre-style format followed by a sit-down and plated dinner.

About the Arizona Technology Council
The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona's premier trade association for science and technology companies.  Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Arizona Technology Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together leaders, managers, employees and visionaries to make an impact on the technology industry.  These interactions contribute to the Council's culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit http://www.aztechcouncil.org.

About the Arizona Commerce Authority
The Arizona Commerce Authority, formerly the Arizona Department of Commerce, is dedicated to welcoming businesses to Arizona and encouraging the expansion of existing businesses in the State. The agency maintains foreign trade offices in Asia, Europe and Mexico. The Arizona Commerce Authority plays a leading role in promoting the Aerospace and Defense industry in Arizona.

SOURCE Arizona Technology Council