Winners of the Stoel Rives Innovation Awards were announced in six categories yesterday at a luncheon in conjunction with the Edison conference at the University of Utah. 

Six winners were chosen from a field of eighteen finalists.  The Winners are:  Biotechnology, AnzenBio, LLC for Bio Detector; Chemicals, Sentrx Surgical, Inc., for Carbylan; Electrical Devices, Wasatch Photonics, for Dickson Grating; Computer Software & Web Services, RappidMapper, for Life Dimensional Camera and Software;  Medical Devices, TechniScan Medical Systems, for Ultrasound CT Imaging System; Mechanical Devices, Brigham Young University and MegaStir Technologies, Inc., for Friction Stir Welding (Processing of Hard Materials).

Fraser Bullock, Founder/Managing Director of Sorenson Capital, and former president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 was the keynote speaker. He highlighted the need for adaptable management in technology companies and urged companies to constantly reassess their market position to avoid missing a paradigm shift.  “We want to be the leaders in a paradigm shift, not the followers,” Bullock said.  “Utah is more and more coming of age, and the overhang of capital is almost astounding.” 

The Innovation Awards, founded in 2003 by Stoel Rives attorney Kevin Laurence, recognize excellence in new Utah Innovation.