Spotlight Shines on Science and Technology as Winners are Announced at Arizona Technology Council's 2013 Governor's Celebration of Innovation

PHOENIX, Nov. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Shining a spotlight on how innovations in science and technology are created and applied to build a sustainable economy for Arizona's future, the Arizona Technology Council in conjunction with the Arizona Commerce Authority, announced the winners of the 2013 Governor's Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) Awards  presented by Avnet, Inc. This prestigious annual gala and awards ceremony was held at the Phoenix Convention Center.

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"As we begin to see improvements in the economy, innovation is more important than ever," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. "It is essential that we celebrate the creative spirit of Arizona by recognizing and honoring the state's most innovative thinkers. We congratulate all the winners and extend our thanks for their part in advancing Arizona as a top-tier technology state."

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
• James Goulka, Arizona Technology Investor Forum (ATIF)
• Dr. Mani Janakiram, Intel Corporation
• Bill Loux, Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE)
• Mary O'Reilly, PhD, CEM, Science Foundation Arizona
• Bob Rasmussen, Honeywell Aerospace

The winners in their respective categories are:

Company Award Winners:

• Innovator of the Year - Start-Up Company: Yolia Health, Phoenix, Arizona
  Yolia Health is a bio-medical device company recognized for its True Vision Treatment (TVT) a non-invasive and fully reversible procedure for treating presbyopia and low refractive vision problems like myopia. TVT is self-administered by the patient in his or her own home. It employs a combination of personalized gas-permeable contact lenses and specially formulated enzymatic eye drops which, when used together, safely modifies the sphericity of the patient's cornea leading to superior vision.
  
• Innovator of the Year - Small Company: Strongwatch Corporation, Tucson, Arizona
  With an initial focus on the tactical mobile surveillance and continuous autonomous surveillance segments of the video surveillance market, Strongwatch was recognized for its integrated products utilizing a common architecture that share several patented or patent pending technologies. The two key products are Freedom On-The-Move (FOTM) and Freedom 360 (F360), used by state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies along with federal law enforcement agencies and emergency responders.
  
• Innovator of the Year - Large Company: Lumension, Scottsdale, Arizona 
  Lumension® was recognized for its Endpoint Management and Security Suite ─ a comprehensive platform that takes a proactive approach to endpoint security. It includes patch management, anti-virus, configuration management, power management, application control, device control and asset management. As a result, multiple layers of security are in place and the security management lifecycle is simplified.
  
• Innovator of the Year – Academia: McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship - University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona  
  The McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship's successful track record in educating students in effective entrepreneurial practice earned this program the GCOI award in the Academia category. Students learn and experience the entrepreneurial process from start to finish as it is one of the only programs in which students create, validate, and implement new ventures. In addition to its innovative curriculum, the Center's cutting-edge research also sets it apart from other programs and has a lasting impact on entrepreneurial education.

"It's an honor to congratulate this year's winners and to celebrate their ongoing corporate excellence," said Sandra Watson, President and CEO, Arizona Commerce Authority.  "More than ever, companies are expanding to Arizona because of our concentration of high-tech talent and portfolio of successful technology companies. The hard work of these individuals, and the companies they represent, continues to position our state as a leader in technology and innovation."

Previously announced winners that were also honored at the event include:

Individual Award Winners:

• OneNeck IT Services People's Choice Lifetime Achievement Award: Insight Enterprises Co-founders Eric Crown and Tim Crown
• William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year: The Thomas R. Brown Foundations
• Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year: Clark Peterson, CEO, Telesphere

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:

• Michael J. McKelvy, Basha High School, Chandler, Arizona

Teacher of the Year Award Honorable Mentions:

• Christopher C. Brandt, Saguaro High School, Scottsdale, Arizona
• Andrew Lettes, Ph. D., Pueblo Magnet High School, Tucson, Arizona

Future Innovators of the Year Award Winners:

• Manav Sevak and Tejas Dharmaraj, Chandler High School, Chandler, Arizona for team  project: "Indicting Alzheimer's: Novel Methods of Preventing Glial Scarring"
• Anvita Gupta and Sejal Aggarwal, BASIS High School, Scottsdale, Arizona for team project: "Pancreatic Adenocaarcinoma"
• Eric Epstein, Tucson High Magnet School, Tucson, Arizona for project: "Olfactory discrimination between regular and deuterated compounds in European honeybees"
• Shelby Yuan, University High School, Tucson, Arizona for project: "Preparation of Magnetic Nanovesicles for Biomedical Applications"

Future Innovators of the Year Award Honorable Mentions:

• Kelsey Barter, University High School, Tucson, Arizona for project: "Targeting Survivin as a Potential Cancer Therapeutic"
• Soumya Kambhampati and Thomas Liu, McClintock High School, Tempe, Arizona for team project: "Social Network Analysis of SAT Phase Transition"

Tech Ten Legislators:
The Tech Ten awards were given in recognition of Arizona state legislators who have demonstrated outstanding support for promoting and advancing Arizona as a top-tier technology state. Separate awards for "Senator of the Year" and "Representative of the Year" were also presented:

Outstanding Tech Senator of the Year Award Winner:

• Senator Bob Worsley

Outstanding Tech Representative of the Year Award Winner:

• Speaker of the House Andy Tobin

The winning Tech Ten legislators are:
Arizona State Senate: Senator John McComish; Senator Don Shooter and Senator Steve Farley.

Arizona House of Representatives: Representative Chad Campbell; Representative Ruben Gallego; Representative Bruce Wheeler; Representative Heather Carter, Representative Jeff Dial; Representative Tom Forese and Representative Thomas "TJ" Shope.

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 (ACA) is the state's leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona's economy.  The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: recruit, grow, create – recruit out-of-state companies to expand their operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to grow their business in Arizona and beyond; and partner with entrepreneurs and companies large and small to create new jobs and businesses in targeted industries. Visit AzCommerce.com for more.

SOURCE Arizona Technology Council