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Brains, Heart and, of Course, Innovation Won the Day at Awards

Ten innovative products launched by San Diego companies in the past two years were recognized at Connect’s 30th annual Most Innovative New Product Awards ceremony.

At the Nov. 30 event at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine, the San Diego business accelerator also recognized local luminaries in life science and technology.

Connect CEO Greg McKee said 84 products launched since the start of 2015 were submitted for consideration this year. Products previously nominated weren’t eligible.

Among the products that made the top 10 were robot “brains” and heart micro-organs, created by San Diego companies Brain Corp. and StemoniX, respectively.

To qualify, the products had to have generated revenue from sales, with the exception of the free mobile app and clinical stage life science product categories.

Honoring People, Too

The competition hosted by Connect, which works with technology and life sciences startups, culminates each fall in its signature event. This year, the organization combined the program with its annual Entrepreneur Hall of Fame awards gala.

Products submitted for consideration were initially narrowed by Connect to 33 finalists; representatives from those companies then pitched their products to a panel of judges in November. The panelists selected the 10 winners following those presentations.

Here’s the full list of award winners, by category:

Cleantech, Sustainability, and Energy — Amionx’s SafeCore prevents a lithium-ion battery from being the source of fire or an explosion; adds minimal cost to the bill of materials of a battery and requires no increased capital cost or cycle time in a factory. Amionx is licensing SafeCore for use in lithium-ion batteries globally.

Defense, Aerospace, and Transportation — Fuse Integration’s CORE is a miniaturized networking system with embedded encryption and advanced cybersecurity. Ruggedized for military airworthiness, CORE provides tactical platforms with secure data communications across multiple domains.

Information Communication Technologies — Nextivity’s Cel-Fi GO improves cellular voice and data service by eliminating dead zones and dropped calls. Cel-Fi GO is NEMA 4 rated, and can be deployed in harsh environments, indoors or outdoors, for mobile or stationary applications.

Life Science Diagnostics and Research Tools — StemoniX’s microHeart is a biologically accurate beating heart micro-organ derived from stem cells created from skin cells. MicroHeart is used by major pharma for screening drugs for heart toxicity and efficacy to discover new cures and personalized medicine.

Life Science Products, Clinical Stage — ViaCyte’s PEC-Direct is intended as a functional cure for patients with high-risk type 1 diabetes. The PEC-Direct product candidate is composed of stem cell-derived pancreatic progenitor cells contained within a subcutaneous implantable device. After implantation, the cells are expected to mature into the full complement of islet cells, including insulin-producing beta cells.

Medical Devices — TereoPneuma’s ReDe Mask is an oxygen facemask that provides a visual signal of a patient’s exhalation. A universal three colored signaling system is used to indicate the respiratory rate; green indicates normal breathing, yellow alerts to potential breathing problems, and red alarms that the patient needs attention.

Mobile Apps — NotesFirst’s NotesFirst App is a mobile platform for capturing and improving the quality of health data for lower-middle income regions of the world.

Robotics and Unmanned Vehicles — Brain Corp’s BrainOS is a self-driving artificial intelligence technology service and proprietary operating system that integrates with off-the-shelf hardware and sensors to provide a cost-effective “brain” for robots. It enables robots to perceive their environment, control their motion and navigate using visual cues and landmarks while avoiding people and obstacles.

Software & Digital Media — Sourcify’s Sourcify platform connects companies with factories and walks them through the product development cycle with project management tools.

Sport & Active Lifestyle Technologies — Levitate Technologies’ Airframe is a lightweight wearable exoskeleton technology engineered to support the upper extremity of professionals and skilled trade workers who are exposed to the repetitive elevation of the arms. The Airframe provides all day and seamless ergonomic support and reduces muscle fatigue resulting in a healthier worker.

Also at the event, Connect inducted Jay Flatley, executive chairman of Illumina, into its Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. The organization also recognized Joe Markee with the Duane Roth Award for Distinguished Contribution in Technology; and Dr. Richard Lerner and the late Larry Bock with the Duane Roth Distinguished Contribution Award for Life Science Innovation.

A new award called the Connect Founders Award was given to Dick Atkinson, who was chancellor of UCSD when Connect was founded there.

Since 1985, Connect has played a role in the formation and development of more than 3,000 companies.

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