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2007 InnoVision Technology Awards Winners

2007 InnoVision Technology Award Winners and Finalists Honored
Dr. Caron St. John Receives Individual Achievement Award
Furman University Receives Hall of Fame Award

Greenville, SC, Nov 7, 2007— The Winners of the 2007 InnoVision Technology Awards were announced during the annual Technology Awards Dinner held at the Carolina First Center in Greenville, SC on November 7.

Dr. Carol Pletcher, former Chief Innovation Officer, Cargill Corporation, was the keynote speaker for the evening.

The InnoVision Technology Awards program, founded in 1999 by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, recognizes and honors businesses, individuals and organizations that have demonstrated significant advancements in the areas of innovation and technological progress. It is considered the premier awards program focused exclusively on celebrating achievements in the South Carolina Upstate region and the counties of Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, and Union.
InnoVision Awards were presented in five categories: Technology Development, Technology Application, Innovation in Education, Small Enterprise and Community Service. A Hall of Fame Award was also presented along with the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award and the Young Innovators Awards. All finalists were featured in a video presentation describing their specific accomplishments.

2007 Hall of Fame Award for Innovation in Education
Furman University was presented with the Hall of Fame Award. This award is designated for organizations that have won a current year award and have demonstrated consistent leadership in innovation and the development or application of technology. Furman University competed and won in the Innovation in Education category for the project described below.

In a recent exercise, Furman professors Lloyd Benson, Diane Boyd, Mike Winiski, Wade Shepherd and Cort Haldaman posed the question, “How might one create a fully interactive virtual field trip with integrated mapping using readily available technologies?” In a collaborated effort, they used a combination of a GPS encoding camera/dataphone, Google Earth/Google Maps software, wireless internet, and cellular telephone service, to develop the concept of a virtual field trip.

In written reflections students noted that the experience enriched their learning through real-time interactions with a tour guide, that the cities “came to life” and that they had a better sense of historical/spatial connections. At a total cost of about $1000, a diverse group of creative minds innovatively applied existing technology and provided genuinely novel classroom experiences to enhance the engagement of students in learning. http://www.furman.edu.

Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award
Dr. Caron St. John received the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award. This award recognizes an individual who exhibits the true spirit of innovation, excellence and leadership through hard work and a commitment to the Upstate community.

Dr. Caron St. John is the founding Director of Clemson University’s Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership and also serves as Director of MBA Programs and Associate Dean of the College of Business and Behavioral Science. Dr. St. John’s many academic and administrative accomplishments have been widely recognized both by Clemson and by national leaders in her field. It is, however, her contributions to the entrepreneurial life of Upstate South Carolina that make her deserving of the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award.

2007 InnoVision Technology Award Winners
Below are the winners and finalists in the Five Categories, as well as the description of the winning entry.

Technology Development (Sponsored by The Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership)

Winner: KEMET Electronics – for its environmentally friendly, high-performance and low-cost Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor (MLCC)
Finalist: Robert Bosch LLC
Finalist: KEMET Electronics – for its Low Equivalent Series Resistance capacitor (Low ESR)

KEMET Electronics – MLCCs
Headquartered in Simpsonville, South Carolina, KEMET Corporation leads the industry in the production of high-performance capacitors. Their capacitance solutions include a new environmentally friendly, high-performance, and low-cost multilayer ceramic capacitor, or MLCC. This new material system for manufacturing Class One ceramic capacitors is energy efficient and environmentally clean. KEMET produces these new lower cost MLCCs at a standard which meets and even exceeds the electrical performance and reliability of previous models. KEMET’s new technology has revolutionized the manufacture of MLCCs. KEMET is now on track to produce about 15 billion MLCCs per year.
http://www.kemet.com

Technology Application (Sponsored by Fuji Photo Film, Inc.)
Winner: Automation Engineering Corporation
Finalist: Advanced Composite Materials, LLC
Finalist: FastFetch Corporation

Automation Engineering Corporation
Founded in 1981, Greenville-based Automotive Engineering Corporation, designs and builds automated equipment and control systems for the manufacturing industry. AEC recently entered the high-speed packaging market with their new product, JOEY. JOEY is an innovative, high-speed, Vertical Form Fill Seal machine. Its modular design allows a single machine to be easily converted to run a wide variety of products and pouch sizes. The results are high-speed operation, more rapid changeover, less waste, and less downtime. JOEY was first introduced to the worldwide market in August 2007. Sales are expected to exceed $2 million dollars within the first year and $80 million dollars over the next 5 years.
http://www.teamaec.com/

Innovation in Education (Sponsored By: Techtronic Industries North America)
Winner: Fuller Normal Advanced Technology Charter School
Finalist: Carolina Software As A Service, Inc. and Spartanburg School District 1
Finalist: Greenville County Schools

Fuller Normal Advanced Technology Charter School
The Fuller Normal Advanced Technology Charter School in Greenville has a student population characterized predominately by low-income, minority students. The mission of “Fuller Normal” is to equip urban at risk students with the 3 kinds of literacy necessary to be successful: The ability to read, write, speak, and calculate with clarity and precision. To be competent in the technological skills necessary become productive members of Greenville’s workforce. Lastly, Fuller tries to instill the desire and ability to participate passionately and responsibly in the life of the community.
The centerpiece of Fuller’s technology tools lies is its use of a research, internet and standards-based curriculum. This curriculum combines online technology with traditional content. It engages students using SMART Board technology. In addition to online lessons and instruction, the K12 curriculum also utilizes animations, simulations, audible pronunciations, internet links and talking books to provide students a content-rich learning experience.
http://www.fnatcs.org/

Small Enterprise (Sponsored by McNair Law Firm)
Winner: PinPoint GeoTech
Finalist: GlucoTec, Inc.
Finalist: Selah Technologies LLC

PinPoint – Public Works (OA Technology Group)
The City of Clemson recently solicited the assistance of OA Technology Group, located in Central SC, in an effort to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of debris removal. The solution came in technology called PinPoint-PublicWorks. With this technology, each sanitation truck is equipped with simple and inexpensive GPS data collection devices customized for their specific tasks. Sanitation truck drivers can now quickly and easily report anything that needs attention—from piles of debris, to overhanging limbs, to missing street signs.

Drivers report data directly to the public works office via the touch-screens mounted in their vehicles. The Public Works Office Administrator can then simply and instantly create a map containing unique icons for all marked points during that day. The locations are automatically matched to a street address and displayed in report format as well as mapped format. Savings realized by the employment of this new system include a reduction in the cost of fuel, manpower, maintenance, equipment, and infrastructure wear and tear. PinPoint-Public Works is now being marketed nationally to City and County Organizations as well as FEMA and the State Emergency Management Divisions.
http://pinpointpublicworks.com

Community Service (Sponsored by Spirit Telecom)
Winner: Susan G. Komen for the Cure-Upstate SC Affiliate
Finalist: SAE International

Susan G. Komen for the Cure - Upstate SC Affiliate
Founded 25 years ago, Susan G. Komen For The Cure is the world’s leading breast cancer organization. Recently, the Upstate South Carolina affiliate, Race for the Cure, collaborated with Champion Communications in an effort to increase participation, fund raising and sponsorship of the local race. Champion Communication’s electronic commercials or “E-mercials” allowed Race for the Cure the ability to reach out to the Update by sending out video messages and tracking the results. This electronic campaign fulfilled their mission to spread awareness of the rate while also increasing participation and fundraising. As a result of the innovative E-mercials, the annual Update South Carolina Race for the Cure had record participation, and significant increased in donations and fund raising.
http://www.komenupstatesc.org

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein, its member firms, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms around the world devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice, focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of approximately 135,000 people worldwide, Deloitte delivers services in four professional areas—audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services—and serves more than one-half of the world’s largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, locally important clients, and successful, fast-growing global growth companies. Services are not provided by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein, and, for regulatory and other reasons, certain member firms do not provide services in all four professional areas.

As a Swiss Verein (association), neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the names “Deloitte,” “Deloitte & Touche,” “Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu,” or other related names.

In the US, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP is the US member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and services are provided by the subsidiaries of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP (Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Consulting
LLP, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, Deloitte Tax LLP and their subsidiaries), and not by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. The subsidiaries of the US member firm are among the nation's leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services through nearly 30,000 people in more than 80 cities. Known as employers of choice for innovative human resources programs, they are dedicated to helping their clients and their people excel. For more information, please visit the US member firm’s web site at www.deloitte.com/us.
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