With Global Biotechnology Week beginning Wednesday, New Brunswick biotech organization BioNB and the law firm McInnes Cooper will present the province’s Bioscience Achievement Award  this week.

The award recognizes the contributions made by one individual or organization and will be announced Thursday. The four nominees are:

Murray McLaughlin: McLaughlin has spent his career in agricultural research in the U.S. and Canada. He was Founding President of AgWest Bio, Deputy Minister for Agriculture for the Government of Saskatchewan, and Executive Director of Bioindustrial Innovation Canada. He is a past Chairman of the BioNB Board. He was named one of the Top 100 Global Leaders in the Advanced Bioeconomy at the Biofuels Digest Conference in Washington in 2016, and received the 2017 International Award from the Chemical Institute of Canada.

SomaDetect: In just over a year, SomaDetect has grown from an idea to a product that’s used by dairy farmers across North America. Founded by Bethany Deshpande and based in Fredericton with six staff, SomaDetect sells hardware and software that provides dairy farmers with the information they need to produce the highest quality milk possible. In 2017, SomaDetect was a finalist in the NBIF Breakthru Competition, the winner of the Fierce Founders Bootcamp in Ontario and winner of the Ag Innovation Showcase in St. Louis.

SomaDetect Making Waves in the U.S.

Chris Baker, CEO of IPSNP Computing: IPSNP has developed a data query platform named HYDRA, which provides decision support to managers based on integrated access to analytical software and enterprise databases. HYDRA was successfully tested in a U.S. hospital for the clinical surveillance of sepsis and is in trials for use in agriculture. Baker's career has spanned industry and academia in the U.K., Canada and Singapore. He is currently professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. In 2016, Baker was a finalist for the Canadian Open Data Leader of the year. In 2017, he was invited as a speaker at the Annual Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists of G20 States (MACS-G20) on Linked Open Data in Agriculture.

ADI Systems: Founded in 1989, ADI Systems has grown into one of the world's leading providers of wastewater solutions for industry. ADI Systems focuses on anaerobic digestion, aerobic treatment, biogas treatment and utilization for green energy recovery and water reuse technologies. It has over 260 customers in more than 35 countries. In July this year, ADI Systems was acquired by Pittsburgh-based Evoqua Water Technologies, the world's largest provider of wastewater solutions.

Thursday’s award event will be held at Boyce Farmers Market in Fredericton.