2009
To view picutres from the 2009 SSMARt Innovation Awards visit: www.flickr.com/ssmic
To view the Live Blog from the evening of the awards visit: www.gerrykirk.net
2009 Winners
1. Innovation Youth of the Year:
Tamara Tadashore and Hannah Craig (St. Mary’s College). Tamara Tadashore and Hannah Craig worked as a team and demonstrated a tremendous passion for technology. They have created an Environmental Documentary which will be screened on Thursday June 11, 2009. They were in charge of all aspects of production and worked closely with community partners to produce a finished product that has met both industry technical standards and client demands.
• Honourable Mentions: Ben Cicchelli (St. Basil Secondary School)
2. Innovation Student/Graduate of the Year:
Nicholas Ochoski. Through Nick’s progressive experience in the fields of geography and geomatics during his post-secondary education he has developed a focus on environmental monitoring through the use of remote sensing. One of Nick’s research projects in particular applies to environmental protection and conservation, specifically focusing on monitoring invasive vegetation. His project is research based and will produce new methods for working with imagery and GIS layers related to vegetation detection and monitoring.
• Honourable Mentions: Jessica Shanahan; Kevin Rusnell
3. Best Website Award:
www.discoverthesault.ca by The Corporation of the City of Sault Ste. Marie. “Discover the Sault.ca” builds on and provides a unique and significant enhancement to the City’s and other community partners’ recent and current efforts in support of global connections and immigration. It not only helps newcomers in knowing where to go, but it supports all community members both private and public sector to use the “Discover the Sault.ca” newcomers portal as a way to attract and assist new people.
4. Innovation Leader of the Year:
Mike McGonigal, Chief Operating Officer for CAIL Technologies. Mike McGonigal is a leader with high tech development company CAIL Technologies and passionately believes that Sault Ste. Marie has the talent and facilities necessary to succeed. He was in part responsible for CAIL aligning their products with EMC which has resulted in the product being acquired by Harvard University, Time Warner Telecom, Eli Lily and several other large American corporations.
5. Innovation Teacher/Professor of the Year:
Peter White (Korah Collegiate and Vocational School). Peter is the head of the music department at Korah Collegiate and Vocational School. As the primary writer for the Ontario 1999 Secondary School Music Curriculum, Peter took great care to ensure that technology was a key component of the course expectations in grades nine to twelve. Over the span of twenty years the Korah recording program has seen computer software recording go from synthesizer/midi only to unlimited audio capabilities. To move through many format changes in technology has required a constant state of adaptation that is unique to teachers of technology and, because of the constant new learning curves, only a teacher with a passion for technology will pursue it.
6. Innovation Researcher of the Year:
Dr. George Townsend (Algoma University). Dr. Townsend’s innovative research involving improvements to the P300 BCI (Brain Computer Interface), continues to improve the lives of ALS patients and other disabled individuals. His research on the P300 is ongoing with other further improvements in the interface currently being explored in the Algoma University BCI laboratory. He is conducting further research on improving EEG acquisition in general and is currently exploring patent opportunities for three related innovations.
7. Innovation Project of the Year:
Essar Steel Algoma Inc. ESSAR Steel Algoma Inc. won for their project of “Manufacturing API (American Petroleum Institute) X70 Steel on a Thin Slabcaster.” In 2007, Essar Steel Algoma’s Product Development team set out to produce API X70 – a feat not so remarkable in and of itself (it was currently available on the market) except Essar developed a way to roll the steel on a continuous thin slabcaster, which to their knowledge, has never been done successfully at this heavy gauge range before.
8. Innovation Company of the Year:
SITTM Technologies. SITTM Technologies Inc. is a Northern Ontario company focused on the development of a unique compact, portable, scalable biorefinery that responds to a growing demand for safe and consistent production of biodiesel from feedstocks that do not compete with food. SITTM is built on the vision of “democratizing” the production of energy as an attempt to exploit market applications where large scale biodiesel plants are not economically feasible.
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