The 2009 Technology Industry Awards (TIAs), hosted by the BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA), were held last night at the state-of-the-art Vancouver Convention Center. Among the winners were Sierra Wireless named Company of the Year, Telus awarded with the Leadership in Social Responsibility Award and James Topham, retired partner KPMG, earning the Bill Thompson Award for career achievement. This year’s winners and finalists reaffirm the breadth of BC’s technology sector, delivering cross-cutting innovations that touch all sectors of the economy.

Vancouver, BC (Vocus/PRWEB ) June 19, 2009 — Renowned for connecting people and systems to global mobile broadband networks, Sierra Wireless (http://www.sierrawireless.com) was named Company of the Year at the 2009 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs) hosted by the BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA). The award formally recognized Sierra Wireless’ phenomenal year that included developing the world’s first data devices for the HSPA+ standard, further penetrating the M2M market with an acquisition of Wavecom S.A., increasing their BC-based employees to 250 and, for the first time in company history, surpassing half a billion dollars in annual revenues.

Earning the Leadership in Social Responsibility Award was Telus (http://www.telus.ca) and its ‘Give Where You Live’ philosophy. Since 2000, Telus, team members and retirees have contributed $137 million and more than 2.6 million hours of community service. Having also contributed over 2000 computers and laptops during the 2008 calendar year, Telus was further recognized with an appreciation award by Computers for Schools – an organization that provides increased access for students and learners of all ages to computer technology.

James Topham, retired partner of KPMG, was awarded the prestigious Bill Thompson Award for career achievement. James enriched BC’s technology industry for over 30 years. During that time, he advised more than 100 technology companies and spent countless hours contributing to technology related associations and philanthropic efforts. This includes being a founding member of the BCTIA. James is currently involved with three small technology firms as a financial advisor and director.

Over 700 representatives from the BC’s technology and business community came together at the new state-of-the-art Vancouver Convention Centre to recognize British Columbia’s top technologies, companies and individuals. Other winners include:

Most Promising Pre-Commercial Technology
Heart Force Medical Inc. (Vancouver) has developed the Ballistocardiograph™ (dBG), a non-invasive medical device that assesses cardiac function by sensing forces generated from heart muscle contractions and relaying results via Bluetooth technology. http://www.heartforcemedical.com

Best Application of Technology
ACL Services Ltd. (Vancouver) delivers business assurance technology for audit and compliance professionals, allowing companies to concurrently interpret and analyze multiple heterogeneous systems all from a centralized control station. http://www.acl.com

Excellence in Product Innovation
Sophos (Vancouver) provides a web security and control appliance that features real-time monitoring and prevention of 100% of known and 90% of unknown malware, as well as patent-pending technology that automatically blocks ‘rogue’ surfers as they attempt to bypass web filtering. http://www.sophos.com

Most Promising Start-up
Energy Aware Technology Inc. (Vancouver) helps improve demand-management energy conservation using an In Home Display (IHD) that communicates with the utility’s smart meter to continually monitor and notify residents of their power usage and associated costs. http://www.energy-aware.com

Emerging Company of the Year
Elastic Path Software Inc. (Vancouver) uses a flexible e-commerce framework, based on open source technologies and full access to source code, to give enterprise clients complete control over their e-commerce projects. http://www.elasticpath.com

Team of the Year
Mixpo’s (Vancouver) team of five dedicated developers maintained and even advanced the business’ alpha product while concurrently, and in nine short months, re-created the company for a burgeoning niche by delivering the robust and highly scalable Mixpo VideoAd Platform. http://www.mixpo.com

Person of the Year
Jonathan Rhone (President and CEO, Nexterra Energy Corp.) is one of BC’s most prominent advocates of the clean tech sector, using his time and effort to ensure environmental sustainability remains a top priority in the province. Jonathan also secured a fourth round of financing and increased year-over-year revenues by 300% for his company Nexterra – developers of advanced gasification systems that convert waste fuels into clean energy.

“Tonight’s winners and finalists reaffirm the breadth of BC’s technology sector, delivering cross-cutting innovations that touch all sectors of the economy,” said Pascal Spothelfer, President and CEO of BCTIA. “We congratulate all winners and finalists for their ingenuity, adaptability and particularly their resiliency in a challenging economic climate – they are all making their mark on the world.”

This year, over 100 applications were received from technology companies of all sectors and sizes and from all corners of British Columbia.

For more information on the awards, the finalists and the winners, please visit:
http://www.bctia.org/awards

For further information or interviews please contact:

Cindy Pearson
BC Technology Industry Association
T: 604-683-6159
F: 604-683-3879

Vancouver, BC, June 4th, 2009 – Energy Aware Technology Inc., a Canada-based developer of demand management products, announced today that it has completed ZigBee® certification
of its PowerTab® product. The PowerTab is an in-home display (IHD) that provides homeowners with real-time data on power consumption, electricity rates and additional information from their utility service provider.

The PowerTab communicates wirelessly with smart meters outside the home and is one of the first IHDs to achieve the ZigBee Smart Energy certification. ZigBee Smart Energy is an open standards-based communication profile that allows the PowerTab to seamlessly integrate with other certified devices and participate in smart grid deployments worldwide. The PowerTab is Federal Communications Commission (FCC) compliant and has received Industry Canada (IC) certification.

Commenting on the announcement, Energy Aware VP of Operations, Lauren Kulokas said, “We’re excited to have reached this milestone in the development of our PowerTab in-home display. Completing our ZigBee Smart Energy certification is an important step towards achieving large-scale deployment of our product alongside smart grid infrastructure in North America and internationally.”

The PowerTab is designed for maximum portability, weighing less than 4.5 oz (128 g) with a magnetic backing and an extended battery life. The product is designed with homeowners in mind and features a sleek appearance, two button interface and an easy to understand display. The PowerTab includes green, yellow and red LEDs that allow for increased communication with end users in Time of Use and Critical Peak Pricing billing structures.

In North America the PowerTab is exclusively distributed by Comverge under the brand name PowerPortal®.

About Energy Aware Technology Inc.
Energy Aware Technology, Inc., is a Vancouver-based company providing innovative demand management solutions for today’s modern electrical grid. Energy Aware’s home energy monitoring products will be included in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Village. For more information, visit www.energy-aware.com. PowerTab® is a registered trademark of Energy Aware Technology, Inc.

About Comverge
Comverge, with over 2600 megawatts of clean energy capacity under management, is a leading provider of clean energy solutions that improve grid reliability and supply electric capacity on a more cost-effective basis than conventional alternatives by reducing base load and peak load energy consumption. For more information, visit www.comverge.com.

PowerPortal® is a registered trademark of Comverge, Inc.
ZigBee: Control your world.

ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of more than 300 member companies driving development of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in consumer electronics, energy, health care, home, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.zigbee.org.

Media Contact:
Colin McKerracher
Energy Aware Technology, Inc.
604-282-7699
Colin.mckerracher@energy-aware.com

Today the BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) announced the finalists for the 2009 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs). Marking the gala’s 15th anniversary, the 2009 finalists reaffirm British Columbia’s status as a global leader in innovative software solutions, mobile communications, and energy conservation technologies.

Vancouver, BC (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 6, 2009 — Today the BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) announced the finalists for the 2009 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs). Marking the award’s 15th year, the 2009 finalists reaffirm British Columbia’s status as a global leader in innovative software solutions, mobile communications, and energy conservation technologies.

“This year’s TIA finalists are making their mark on the world with innovative solutions that are improving productivity and environmental sustainability, while saving their customers millions of dollars every year,” observed Pascal Spothelfer, President of the BCTIA. “Innovation and best business practices are essential for our industry to weather the current economic storm. The TIA finalists are representative of the class of companies that come out of a downturn strong and well positioned for the recovery.”

Award finalists impact various global markets with technologies that dramatically improve residential and commercial energy efficiency; provide fully scalable software solutions that upgrade business operations and mobile communications; and deliver high-definition surveillance systems to the public and private sectors. Developed with BC ingenuity, finalists also include medical innovations that infuse traditional theory with modern technology, and breakthroughs in aviation intelligence to bring unmanned flight to civilian airspaces to support traditional sectors like forestry, oil & gas, and utility sectors.

The TIAs are broken into three distinct groups: Technology Awards, Company Awards, and Personal Recognition Awards. This year’s finalists are:

Excellence in Product Innovation
Nokia
Sophos Inc.
Strangeloop Networks Inc.

Best Application of Technology
ACL Services Ltd.
Maximizer Software Inc.
Sempa Power Systems Ltd.

Most Promising Pre-Commercial Technology:
Heart Force Medical Inc.
MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates (MDA)
Switch Materials

Most Promising Start-Up
Energy Aware Technology Inc.
Pulse Energy Inc.
Strangeloop Networks Inc.

Emerging Company of the Year
Avigilon Corporation
Elastic Path Software Inc.
Nexterra Energy Corp.

Company of the Year
PEER 1
Sierra Wireless

Team of the Year:
Mixpo
TELUS

Other awards to be presented at the Technology Impact Awards Celebration include:

Leadership in Social Responsibility: Awarded for deployment of socially and/or environmentally responsible business practices or projects

Person of the Year: Awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the technology industry during the year

Winners will be announced on June 17th at the Technology Impact Awards Celebration, at the new state-of-the-art Vancouver Convention Centre, where more than 700 celebrants will extend well-deserved recognition and congratulations to the leaders who are helping to build and drive British Columbia’s economy.

About the BCTIA
The BC Technology Industry Association is British Columbia’s leading member-based industry association that represents start-ups to established technology companies across the province. As the voice of the technology industry, the BCTIA is committed to the ongoing growth, sustainability and prosperity of the technology industry and the transformation of British Columbia to a knowledge-based economy.

BCTIA delivers a broad range of programs and services that provide members with opportunities to connect, learn, and promote their businesses in BC.