Nine New Brunswick innovation economy players, including such innovation-driven companies as building materials startup PLAEX and industrial internet-of-things specialists SmartSkin, were honoured Thursday at the InnovateNB Awards.
Held at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, the awards were part of the annual InnovateNB gathering, which included a full day of workshops and community events.
“The InnovateNB celebration is a highlight reel of innovation in New Brunswick," said TechImpact CEO Cathy Simpson, whose organization is among the innovation economy support organizations that formed InnovateNB. "We celebrate incredible ideas, perseverance, teamwork, economic success, diversity, and incredible achievements by many outstanding New Brunswickers."
The event included the formal induction of Roxanne Fairweather and Dave Grebenc, the co-CEOs of Saint John-based Innovatia, into the InnovateNB Hall of Fame — making good on an announcement from earlier this month.
Innovatia, which helps businesses develop and implement their internal information-sharing strategies, particularly at the technological level, was founded in 1999. Fairweather and Grebenc took over the business in 2009.
Here’s a look at the winners in each category:
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CHAMPION
Constantine Passaris
Professor of Economics, University of New Brunswick/New Brunswick Multicultural Council
Passaris has served on the Economic Council of Canada, chaired the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission and advised UNESCO, or the The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. He is also the founding president emeritus of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council, a professor of economics at the University of New Brunswick and affiliated with institutions like the Onassis Foundation and the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy.
ECONOMIC IMPACT THROUGH INNOVATION
SmartSkin Technologies
SmartSkin Technologies, led by CTO Kumaran Thillainadarajah and CEO Evan Justason, uses industrial internet-of-things technology to improve the efficiency of production lines in the bottling industry
EMERGING INNOVATOR
Curtis Kennedy
Symbodi
Kennedy is the co-founder of Symbodi, the Fredericton startup best known for its Vertiball product — a portable tool that can be attached to most walls and used to massage the user’s back to ease muscle pain.
INNOVATION IN ACADEMIA AND RESEARCH
Yassine Bouslimani and Sid Ahmed Selouani
Université de Moncton
Bouslimani is a professor at the Université de Moncton specializing in industrial robotics, machine vision, the internet-of-things and smart homes. He heads up the university’s Laboratoire de Robotique, Électronique et Industrie 4.0.
INNOVATION CHAMPION
Nick Scott
ShiftFlow Innovation & Design
Scott is the CEO of ShiftFlow, a Fredericton-based industry group that provides services like accelerators and assistance with strategic planning to young companies.
MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OR SERVICE
PLAEX Building Systems
PLAEX-crete
PLAEX, founded by CEO Dustin Bowers, produces sustainable construction materials made from recycled waste that has been formed into specially shaped, interlocking blocks.
MOST INNOVATIVE STARTUP
Picketa Systems
Picketa’s LENS platform, which stands for Leaf Evaluated-Nutrient System, is a hardware and software suite that allows agricultural professionals to perform plant tissue analysis in real-time via an optical sensor and cloud-computing system.
PUBLIC SECTOR AWARD FOR INNOVATION
Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard
Université de Moncton
Dupuis-Blanchard is a researcher in the field of aging at the Université de Moncton, where she holds the Research Chair in Aging and directs the Centre on Aging. She holds a PhD in nursing and her research focuses on home support for seniors, age-friendly communities, and aging in official language minority communities.
PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT BY ADAPTING TECHNOLOGY
Sparta Manufacturing
Based in Notre Dame, NB, Sparta specializes in upgrading aging recycling systems and recently launched its new Olympus Accelerated Ballistic Separator at WasteExpo 2023, which is a machine for sorting recycling faster than existing market options.
