TechAmerica Oregon Names Mentor Graphics' Gregory K. Hinckley Executive of the Year and Richard I. (Dick) Knight Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- TechAmerica Oregon announced today the selection of Greg Hinckley, president of Wilsonville, Oregon-based Mentor Graphics, as the 2011 Technology Executive of the Year, and Dick Knight as the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Both awards will be presented at this year's Oregon Technology Awards ceremony to be held at the Portland Art Museum on May 19, 2011.

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"It is very rewarding to acknowledge two Oregon technology executives that have given so much back to education," said Jennifer Bosze, Regional Vice President, TechAmerica Oregon. Greg and Dick have not only proven to be unparalleled leaders throughout their respective careers, but also dedicated and engaged community leaders.

Greg Hinckley

This year's Executive of the Year has been instrumental in helping Mentor Graphics grow as both an employer in Oregon and leader in the EDA industry by finding operational efficiencies without significantly impacting headcount and by expanding the company's product line into more sophisticated areas affecting electronics. Mentor Graphics' brand of electronic design automation (EDA) helps thousands of engineers conquer challenges in the increasingly complex worlds of board and chip design.

Mentor Graphics employees have proven to be strong advocates of technology education in Oregon and Hinckley is no exception.  He currently serves as the advisory board of the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University where he personally helps fund Ph.D. candidates. In addition, Hinckley oversees the Mentor Graphics Foundation board of directors, which guides donations to FIRST Robotics and the ISEPP Science and Technology Lecture Series in Portland (for which tickets are made available to K-12 and science educators).

Dick Knight

Dick Knight receives the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the industry and his advocacy for education. He served in executive roles during 18 years at Tektronix, the origin of more start-ups than any company in Oregon. He was President and COO of SARIF, a display start-up.  For the past decade he has focused on supporting science, engineering and math education, including serving as Interim Dean of Engineering and as Vice President of University Relations at Portland State University.

Among his many volunteer activities, Knight is vice chair of the Saturday Academy board and serves on the steering committee of ETIC's K-12 education initiative.  He has served on the boards of OMSI, the TechStart Education Foundation, and was board chair for Oregon AeA (now TechAmerica).  He has served on many advisory boards including the PSU's Maseeh College, OHSU's Coastal Margins and Ocean Prediction program, and he assisted in the design of Beaverton's unique Health and Science High School. He was also Co-Chair of the group that brought the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair to Portland in 2004.

The Oregon Technology Executive of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards are chosen by a selection committee comprised of the program's previous Technology Executive of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. Nominations are generated by the committee and from the technology community at large.

To learn more about this year's Oregon Technology Awards program, brought to you by TechAmerica Oregon and presented by CresaPartners and UnitedHealthcare, please visit http://www.oregontechawards.com. At the site, nominations are currently being accepted for the following awards: System/Hardware Company of the Year, Software Company of the Year, Technology-Service Company of the Year, Rising Star Company of the Year and Cool Product of the Year.

About TechAmerica

TechAmerica is the leading voice for the U.S. technology industry – the driving force behind productivity growth and jobs creation in the United States and the foundation of the global innovation economy. Representing approximately 1,200 member companies of all sizes from the public and commercial sectors of the economy, it is the industry's largest advocacy organization and is dedicated to helping members' top and bottom lines. TechAmerica is also the technology industry's only grassroots-to-global advocacy network, with offices in state capitals around the United States, Washington, D.C., Europe (Brussels) and Asia (Beijing).It was formed by the merger of AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association), the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the Government Electronics & Information Technology Association (GEIA).Learn more about TechAmerica at www.techamerica.org.

SOURCE TechAmerica