The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is now accepting nominations for the 32nd Annual Governor’s Medals for Science and Technology.

Established in 1987, the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology is the highest civilian award bestowed by the State of Utah to residents who have provided distinguished service or made significant contributions to Utah in scientific and technological fields. A panel of industry experts and educators review the nominations prior to making their recommendations to Gov. Gary R. Herbert.

The awards honor those who have made an impact across their careers and highlight accomplishments in 2018. Following the final selection of the awardees, Gov. Gary R. Herbert will present the awards at a ceremony at the Utah Technology Innovation Summit scheduled for Apr. 1, 2019.

Individuals, organizations, and institutions whose efforts have made a significant contribution to the fields of science and technology within the Beehive State are eligible to receive a Governor’s Medals for Science and Technology. Categories in which nominations are welcome include:

• K-12 Education, for an individual who has made a notable contribution in elementary and secondary school education in Utah in the fields of science, STEM, engineering, or technology
• Academic/Research, for an individual at Utah’s higher education institutions who distinguished themselves in the field of science, engineering or other deep technologies
• Industry, for an individual or company who/that has made notable achievements in the field of science, engineering or other deep technologies

Nominees must have demonstrated important contributions in the fields of science, research, STEM education, or in deep technology industry. Previous award recipients and current members of the medals review committee are not eligible for nomination.

A one-page nomination form is available for download online at governorsmedals.ustar.org.

Utah residents or organizations may submit completed nomination forms by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Nominations may be submitted online, emailed to jberry, or mailed to USTAR, attn. Science Medals, 111 S. Main Street, Suite 550, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

###

About USTAR

The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is the state’s technology-based economic development agency. USTAR serves as a catalyst to develop ideas and research into marketable products and successful companies through its competitive grant and entrepreneur support programs. USTAR propels Utah’s economy forward by supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in the non-IT science and deep technology clusters. USTAR facilitates the diversification of the state’s tech economy, increases private follow-on investments, and ensures more companies successfully launch and survive the initial technology development and incubation stages, or the so-called "Valley of Death." In doing so, USTAR helps create a rich innovation ecosystem that grows the state’s economy, tax revenue, and workforce.

The conference brings together scientists, engineers, policymakers, and diplomats from around the world to discuss emerging and timely issues of science diplomacy.

The panel, Think Locally to Impact Globally: Science Diplomacy at the State Level, which was written, proposed, and coordinated by USTAR, will be hosted by former USTAR executive director Ivy Estabrooke, Ph.D., who now serves as the executive director for corporate executive programs at PolarityTE. During her time at USTAR, Estabrooke guided the agency to either meet or exceed its five-year performance metrics in just two years, including more than $123.9 million in follow-on funding for USTAR-supported companies.

The panel will include innovation experts June Chen, M.D., Juan Manuel Romero, and Dan Wee, Ph.D.

Chen is a leading technology business consultant with more than 10 years of experience in business development, strategic communications, and angel investing for startups and established companies. Currently, Chen serves as a managing partner at LDD, a boutique strategic management consulting and angel investing firm, a managing partner at Mountain Pacific Venture Fund, an early-stage life sciences investment fund, and co-owner of Church & State, a 501(c)(3) non-profit business and entrepreneurship incubator.

Romero is the vice president of innovation and technology transfer at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), where he has been a key policy leader for the country in science, technology, innovation, and economic development. Previously, he served as the president of the Mexican Association of Managers of Applied Research and Technological Development (ADIAT), one of the country’s most prestigious organizations in the science, technology, and innovation ecosystem.

Wee is the CEO and founder of T3S Technologies, a biotech company that utilizes a revolutionary expression platform to enable development and drastically reduce production costs of a range of protein products. Wee has led the company through equity financing, federal and state-funded grant awards, and deals throughout academia and industry. T3S Technologies is a recipient of a USTAR Technology Acceleration Program (TAP) grant.

During USTAR’s panel, speakers will discuss the strategic role of technology-based economic development and innovation to strengthen the economic and competitive advantage in a globalized environment. The panel will explore the value gained by building new international relationships between institutions and individuals on a platform of science and technology and will look at how state agencies, national governments, nonprofit organizations, and businesses can benefit from prioritizing international collaboration.

To learn more about Science Diplomacy 2018 or to register for the event, visit https://www.aaas.org/. To learn more about USTAR, visit ustar.org.

About USTAR

The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is the state’s technology-based economic development agency. USTAR serves as a catalyst to develop ideas and research into marketable products and successful companies through its competitive grant and entrepreneur support programs. USTAR propels Utah’s economy forward by supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in the non-IT science and deep technology clusters. USTAR facilitates the diversification of the state’s tech economy, increases private follow-on investments, and ensures more companies successfully launch and survive the initial technology development and incubation stages, or the so-called "Valley of Death." In doing so, USTAR helps create a rich innovation ecosystem that grows the state’s economy, tax revenue, and workforce.

Companies are located in Davis, Iron, Salt Lake, and Utah counties. This latest round of awardees includes projects in the automation and robotics, big data and cybersystems, energy and clean technology, and life science sectors.

“These projects represent innovative ideas with the potential to raise capital, create jobs, form strategic partnerships, and accelerate their technology commercialization to take life changing technology to market,” said Ivy Estabrooke, Ph.D., executive director of USTAR. “The TAP grant provides critical support in helping these companies develop to a stage where they can compete for private capital investments.”

USTAR’s TAP grant complements the organization’s entrepreneur incubation program and provides competitive grants to allow companies to accelerate their technology development. In doing so, the TAP grant prepares companies to compete for private capital, with the ultimate objective of spurring positive economic impact to the state through an increased tax base and creation of high-paying jobs.

Companies that were approved for TAP funding will now go through the contracting phase, with the awards, pending contract negotiation, finalizing in the coming weeks.

For more information about TAP and USTAR programs, visit ustar.org.

Spring FY2018 Award Winners:

Brilliant Points (Lehi) — This technology startup addresses connection and bandwidth limitations through a revolutionary new signaling system which increases bandwidth, reduces power, and reduces wiring.

Cosmas, Inc. (Springville) — This energy and clean technology firm converts waste, reduces engine emissions and refinery waste, and provides thermal stability. The unique technology is cross-applicable across a variety of industries, including agriculture, municipal government and automotive.

Datawave (Saratoga Springs) — Datawave makes wireless connectivity products for the Internet of Things (IoT) end users, including industrial automation, robotics, energy and more.

Dragon Shale (Cedar City) — This early-stage company is developing a process that allows the separation of petrochemicals such as propylene from the conversion of kerogen in oil shale.

IDbyDNA, Inc. (Salt Lake City) — IDbyDNA’s technology enables users to identify any microbe, from any sample, anywhere in the world. They are currently in the process of developing big data metagenomics sequence archives for diagnosis, discovery and industrial process control.

Kosmo Technologies (South Salt Lake) —A medical-device startup company, Kosmo is applying innovative technologies to improve the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

Knudra Transgenics (Murray) — Knudra Transgenics provides services and products for genome engineering of model organisms, which can be utilized to model potential disease variations.

Majelco Medical (Woods Cross) — An early-stage medical device company, Majelco Medical is developing a proprietary, disposable device to accurately measure surgical blood loss, targeting 10 million moderate blood loss surgeries that take place annually in the U.S. alone.

Nanoshell Company (South Salt Lake) — A biomedical and nanotechnology company, Nanoshell aims to translate the benefits of nanotechnology into practical solutions for pressing biomedical, research, and commercial needs.

Nielson Scientific LLC (Lehi) — Nielson Scientific is an advanced micro/nano-fabrication company with technology that offers complete three-dimensional freedom to design and fabricate advanced semiconductor micro and nano-devices.

PEEL Therapeutics, Inc. (Salt Lake City) — Founded in 2015, the life sciences company utilizes nanotechnology drug delivery systems to treat osteosarcoma and aims to expand to treat all p53-deficient tumors (half of human cancer).

Rogue Technologies, LLC (Clearfield) — Rogue Technologies is incorporating advanced technology and innovation to increase reliability, decrease costs, and improve system performance of firearms for the modern warfighter.

Sustainable Energy Solutions, LLC (Orem) — Sustainable Energy Solutions is an energy technology company that aims to eliminate carbon emissions and other pollutants from fossil fuels while promoting better use of intermittent renewables through grid-scale energy storage.

###

About USTAR

The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is the state’s technology-based economic development agency. USTAR serves as a catalyst to develop ideas and research into marketable products and successful companies through its competitive grant and entrepreneur support programs. USTAR propels Utah’s economy forward by supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in the non-IT science and deep technology clusters. USTAR facilitates the diversification of the state’s tech economy, increase​s​ private follow-on investments, and ensure​s​ more companies successfully launch and survive the initial technology development and incubation stages, or the so-called "Valley of Death." In doing so, USTAR helps create a rich innovation ecosystem ​that​ grow​s​ the state’s economy, tax revenue, and workforce.