[1]The winners of the CATAAlliance [1] 26th Annual Innovation Awards were announced Wednesday night at a sold out Gala Dinner, emceed by Paul Brent, host of CTV [2] Ottawa’s TechNow. For over two decades, the CATAAlliance Innovation Awards Gala has been celebrating the best in Canadian advanced technology from coast to coast.
A reception, hosted by Ernst and Young [3] and the Royal Bank of Canada [4], started the evening off in celebration of the 2011 Award Winners and Finalists recognized for their innovation, expertise, and leadership in Canada’s advanced technology community.
“Our 2011 award winners and finalists have shown that they are world-class innovators and industry leaders. They are certainly role models for the development of commercially successful enterprises in Canada. CATA is proud to act as an advocate for them and to provide a platform of programs and initiatives to assist in their growth,” says John Reid, CATA President.
In keeping with the theme of the Gala, Technology Futures, a panel discussion of industry experts provided insight into the exciting realm of upcoming technology trends. The panel included:
Patrick K. Horgan – Vice President, Manufacturing, Development and Operations, IBM Canada [5]
Trina Alexson – Service Delivery Executive, Cisco Systems Inc. [6]
Lynda Partner – Vice President, Marketing, Redline Communications [7]
Lubor Ptacek – Vice President, Open Text [8]
Craig Wright – Chief Economist, RBC Capital Markets [9]
Awards winners were presented with awards in the following areas:
- Telfer School of Management Award for Private Sector Leadership in Advanced Technology: Marcel Lebrun – CEO, Radian6 [10]
- Open Text Award for Public Sector Leadership in Advanced Technology: Steve Palmer – Executive Director, Canadian Police Research Centre [11] (CPRC), Shereen Miller – Director General, Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, Public Works and Government Services Canada [12]
- Peter Brojde Award for Canada’s Next Generation Executive Leadership: Chris McLaren – Founder and CEO, Tristan Interactive [13]
- ICTC Information Technology HR Strategic Leadership Award: Magor Communications [14]
- KPMG CIO Leadership Award: Erik Boch – Founder, CTO and VP Engineering, DragonWave Inc. [15]
- Wellington West Award for Outstanding Product Achievement (ICT/Health/Clean Tech): IDEAL LIFE Inc. [16]
- Celestica Award for Technology Commercialization: IntelliView Technologies Inc [17].
- Ericsson Award for Outstanding Product Achievement (Content and Application Mobility Industry): Purple Forge [18]
- TSX Emerging Technology Award: Virage Simulation [19]
- CAMSC Innovation through Diversity Award: Garth Scully – Director, Partner Operations, Cisco Systems Inc. [6]
- Motorola Award for Public Safety Technology: Optosecurity Inc. [20]
- Canadian Women in Technology (CanWIT) Sara Kirke Award for Woman Entrepreneurship: Janet Longmore – President and CEO, Digital Opportunity Trust [21]
- High Road Communications’ Prix de l’innovation pour l’Excellence dans le journalisme scientifique et technique medias du Quebec: Denis Lalonde – Direction Informatique [22]
- High Road Communications’ Excellence in Science and Technology Reporting Award: Bob McDonald – CBC [23]
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Front row (l-r): Erik Boch, DragonWave Inc.; Shereen Miller, PWGSC; Steve Palmer, CPRC; Marcel Lebrun, Radian6
Back row (l-r): Ken Davison, Magor Communications; Garth Scully, Cisco Systems Inc., Janet Longmore, Digital Opportunity Trust; John Craig, Purple Forge; Denis Lalonde, Direction Informatique; Mike Reardon, Virage Simulation; Chris McLaren, Tristan Interactive; Bob McDonald, CBC; Dr. Wael Badawy, IntelliView Technologies.
The 26th Annual CATAAlliance Innovation Awards Gala was supported this year by the following corporate sponsors: RBC [4], Ernst and Young [3], Telfer School of Management [25], University of Ottawa [26], the Peter Brojde Foundation [27], ICTC [28], KPMG [29], High Road Communications [30], Ericsson [31], Celestica [32], Wellington West [33], TSX [34], CAMSC [35], Motorola [36], Microsoft [37], Accretive Advisor [38], and Open Text [39].