This year’s Tech 50 Awards pushed into uncharted territory honoring new companies within seven categories and a CEO of the Year. To keep pace with a fast-moving industry, Tech 50 added the Green Technology and High Rise categories to the mix. The Green Technology category recognizes companies in the energy and clean technology sectors, whereas the High Rise category was created to honor large, established technology companies across industry sectors.

Here’s the low-down on the judging criteria: Tech 50 Award Candidates must be based in the 13-county SWPA region. Entrants may be privately held or publicly traded. Independent operating subsidiaries are also eligible – but only if revenues for regional operations can be reported. A company may enter only one industry category, but CEO nominees can be from any category. An independent panel of judges from the PTC, member organizations and sponsors review all submissions.

Judges based 70 percent of the score on the numbers behind revenue growth, job growth and employee retention. The remaining 30 percent of the score was subjective, based on each company’s answer to an essay question: “What differentiates your company from others in the industry?” Enough chit-chat: Here are the winners and finalists!

Advanced Manufacturing

Winner:

Respironics, Inc. - Designs, develops, manufactures and sells respiratory products to be used in the home, hospitals and emergency medical situations. Its products and services are available in more than 131 countries through a network of direct operations or a network of specialized distributors.

Finalists:

All Water Systems, Inc. – Specializes in service, sales, installation, and consultation for commercial and industrial water treatment systems.

CardiacAssist, Inc. - Develops, manufactures, and markets cardiac assist devices.

Data Science Automation, Inc. - Offers a complete array of mechanical, electrical, control and software engineering services.

Neuro Kinetics, Inc. - Develops, manufactures and sells non-invasive, early diagnostic and screening devices.

Omni Prepaid Group, LLC/ Gift Cards.com, LLC - Provides prepaid solutions including: gift card sales, processing, tracking, fraud protection and customer service.

The Proud Group - Technology solution provider that helps manufacturers become more efficient and profitable by automating plant floor processes.

Tollgrade Communications, Inc. - Provides network service assurance products and services and sensor technologies.

Green Technology

Winner:

BPL Global - A smart grid technology company transforming the way energy and information are delivered, BPL Global’s revenue swelled 4,020 percent and the company grew from five to 53 employees since 2005.

Finalists:

CNX Gas Corporation - A natural gas company operating in the Appalachian Basin of the U.S. and a leading producer of coal bed methane.

CONSOL Energy, Inc. - A high-BTU bituminous coal and coal bed methane producer.

Plextronics, Inc. - Specializes in printed solar, lighting and other electronics using organic solar cells and organic, light-emitting diode technology.

Print Net, Inc. - Offers environmentally friendly “green printing services” from initial concept to final delivery and distribution.

High Rise

Winner:

MEDRAD, Inc. - Manufactures, sells and supports diagnostic and therapeutic imaging products. The company earned the Malcolm Baldridge Award in 2003 and was named 2007 Best Plant by Industry Week.

Finalists:

Alcoa - One of Pittsburgh’s first manufacturing and technology companies and is the global leader in the production and management of aluminum.

ANSYS, Inc. - Designs, develops, markets and globally supports engineering solutions used in multiple industries.

Eaton Corporation - Is a worldwide leader in manufacturing power distribution and power protection equipment.

McKesson Automation - Provides solutions to improve patient medication safety and medication use efficiency.

Information Technology

Winner:

BitArmor - The producer of DataControl tm, a powerful new software that provides a faster, easier, more cost-effective way to protect and manage sensitive data throughout any organization. BitArmor’s innovative approach to data security has created a new standard for how business will guard their most valuable assets.

Finalists:

Apangea Learning, Inc. - Provides Web-based, one-to-one tutoring and supplemental instruction.

Carnegie Learning, Inc. - Provides intelligent software tutoring, combined with text and teacher-led classroom instruction.

Confluence - Provides software platforms to automate and integrate fund administration processes for financial institutions around the globe.

InterTECH Security Group, LLC - Offers innovative solutions integrating all aspects of a customer’s security needs.

Motionplan, Inc. - Develops custom learning solutions that include e-learning, performance support and blended curriculum to meet client-specific needs.

Tower Care Technologies, Inc. - Produces software that helps non-profits and others raise money, operate more efficiently and communicate more effectively.

Vivisimo - Their Velocity software helps organizations maximize the business value of their information by neatly categorizing it at blistering speeds. Life Sciences

Winner:

RedPath Integrated Pathology, Inc. - Provides complex cancer diagnostic testing using a proprietary technology platform that allows more definitive diagnoses of the disease. Their unique Pathfinder technology optimizes DNA amplification techniques, making it possible to perform multiple mutational analyses on the most minute specimens.

Finalists:

Celtic Healthcare - Provides comprehensive homecare services designed to provide an integrated approach to all levels of home-based care.

invivodata, inc. - Combines behavioral science, information technology and clinical expertise to capture clinical trial data directly from patients.

MED3000, Inc. - Uses information technology solutions to improve the performance of group medical practices and physician networks.

medSage Technologies, LLC - Offers patient management systems to help homecare providers deliver better care at lower costs.

Net Health Systems, Inc. - Provides integrated clinical, financial and regulatory software for wound management.

ReGear Life Sciences, Inc. - Develops and markets innovative products that provide deep-tissue therapeutic heating that facilitate the healing process.

Starr Life Sciences Corp. - Creates unique devices for medical research with technology that non-invasively diagnoses and monitors the health of laboratory rats and mice.

Rising Star

Winner:

Cohera Medical Inc. - Developer of TissueGlu, a medical adhesive that has the potential to redefine the medical adhesive paradigm. No product on the market currently provides strong adhesive properties with the biocompatibility necessary for internal use in deep wounds. TissueGlu and Cohera Medical are poised to revolutionize wound closure.

Finalists: Bright Innovation - Specializes in product research and design to help its clients connect with potential customers.

ClearCount Medical Solutions - Provider of a sponge management system that combines the benefits of counting and detection.

e-STAFF Consulting Group, Inc. - Fills IT/IS positions for clients throughout the Pittsburgh region.

Etcetera Edutainment - Uses proprietary video game technology to develop a variety of training and entertainment solutions that are immersive, customizable and cost-effective.

Mobile Fusion, Inc. - Builds products that help professionals get a clear and rich view of those dangerous and inaccessible places in the world assisting military, police and first responders.

Thorley Industries, LLC - A consumer product company that develops new products based upon low-cost electronics and keen consumer insights.

Virtus Advanced Sensors - Specializes in the commercialization of next-generation inertial sensor technology developed using MEMS and micro-machining methods.

Service Provider

Winner:

Newton Consulting - An elite, and leading provider of IT Consulting, Newton Consulting and the ANSYS team successfully integrated acquired domestic and international sites for Pittsburgh-based ANSYS, migrating them to ANSYS’ Oracle ERP infrastructure on budget and in record time.

Finalists:

FTI Consulting - Global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex, regulatory, and economic environment.

Guru.com - Has created the world’s largest marketplace for freelance talent.

Ideal Integrations - Experts in the latest computer technologies, utilizing the right products, deploying the right people and making their clients’ success their passion.

IMPAQT - A search engine marketing agency which helps Fortune 1,000 companies gain revenue, branding , and top Internet rankings.

Information Systems Services, Inc. - Information technology services that include: consulting, contract IT services, HR sourcing and infrastructure outsourcing Support.

SiGenix - Provides product development, hardware and software design and rapid prototyping services to the medical and transit industries.

SYCOR AMERICAS Inc. - Specializes in business consulting and information technology in the energy, plastics, chemical, and life sciences industries.

CEO of the Year

Winner:

Gregory S. Babe, Bayer Material Science, LLC – Currently spearheading comprehensive organizational initiatives to improve the company’s competitiveness in the turbulent chemical industry of today, Greg has also served as a spokesman for the chemical industry, speaking to the local media about the essential issues that face the chemical industry in Pittsburgh and across the nation.

Finalists:

James E. Cashman, III, ANSYS - Under Cashman’s leadership ANSYS achieved record results across all four quarters in 2007 driven by organic revenue growth.

Dr. Giorgio Coraluppi, Compunetix, Inc./Chorus Call, Inc./Compunetics, Inc. - As a telecommunications innovator, Giorgio has won acclaim for his dedication to research and development.

D. Raja, Computer Enterprises, Inc. - Raja has consistently grown CEI while maintaining the integrity and core value CEI was founded on.

David A. Souerwine, McKesson Automation - Achieving both revenue growth and high employee satisfaction, Dave has added business processes and a metrics-driven management approach to McKesson.

And now a quick look back at the history of the Council and Tech 50!

The Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Tech 50 Awards recognize pioneering, compelling, revolutionary, high-achieving companies – large and small – of the technology sector. In this, the Council’s silver anniversary year, the Tech 50 will enjoy special attention. But we invite you to return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when the Council hadn’t quite yet hit its stride, when the steel industry had hit a hard slide, and when a small idea started its big-time ride.

“My feeling about the Council when it was started was that it should be dedicated to ensuring that companies form and companies prosper in the technology field,” recalled Jim Colker, who led Contraves and served as one of the original founders of what was known then as the Pittsburgh High Technology Council. “No one did what we were trying to do then.”

"The genesis of all this was when I was working with Penns Southwest and our objective was to attract what we were calling the electronic industry to Pittsburgh. We had a person representing us on the West Coast who came back and told us that it was difficult to sell when you don't know what you're selling. She didn't have a good grasp of what was happening in Pittsburgh," said Jay Aldridge, also considered one of the original founders of the Council. "We got a small group of about 12 people together, six from industry and six from the association. When they came into the room, we realized they didn't know each other and didn't realize how they could be working with and helping each other."

From those limited beginnings, the Council steadily gained momentum.

“It was quite a novel idea at the time to form a technology council,” said Jack Roseman, another early believer whose Roseman Institute continues to foster entrepreneurial thinking in the region today. “They hired some young kid from a non-profit to run the thing, name of Tim Parks. I remember taking trips around the city with Parks trying to get people to join the Council.”

That “young kid” indeed took the reins as the first paid leader of the Council and it was during his tenure that the idea of Tech 50 took root. It didn’t happen right away, though. Far from it. There remained much to learn and absorb before the time was right to celebrate technology in these parts.

“The first 12 years of the Council can be seen in a couple of ways,” said Parks, who serves today as the National Director for Corporate Business Development and Marketing with the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. “During the early, early years, from the founding through 1990, the Council was viewed as an organization promoting the idea of high technology in Pittsburgh – an idea which, at that time, was extremely novel, really ‘out there.’ We were met with equal parts total skepticism and a welcoming, optimistic notion that somebody’s doing something, that there may be light at the end of this tunnel.”

The tunnel of regional economic difficulty, caused by a slow economy and the near-complete collapse of the steel industry here, that is.

“The Council in the 1980s was riding the movement of figuring out what do we do as a region with steel leaving,” echoed Roseman. “The city, county, and state got involved too. We had to do something. The state realized that steel was going kaput across Pennsylvania, so what would be our claim to fame now?

“Things changed when universities saw they could make money through technology transfer, when programs began under Gov. Dick Thornburgh like the Ben Franklin Partnership,” he continued. “The landscape changed tremendously. Before all this started, I don’t remember spinouts from Carnegie Mellon and Pitt in those days. Pitt back then was worried about research funding only – that’s changed tremendously, the difference between then and now is like night and day.”

The changes wrought by the region’s determined efforts to emerge from the lost heyday of steel as a hub of technology reverberate today. Research funding that went into medicine at Pitt turned into the strong local biotech industry of today. Carnegie Mellon became the number one school in the U.S. for information technology, thanks to a succession of presidents who saw the value of breeding innovation in every corner of campus.

“CMU for years has been as entrepreneurial a college as you could be,” said Roseman. “Professors didn’t ask permission, they had that entrepreneurial spirit, all based on their own personal initiative. This came from the leadership of the late President of the university, Dick Cyert, who was very entrepreneurial, as was his successor Robert Mehrabian, and as is the current President, Jared Cohon.”

Stemming from such entrepreneurial urgings came the next wave of technology’s evolution across the region – and again, the Council played a role and continued inching forward to the time when it made sense to start recognizing outstanding achievement.

“About this time we began seeing some exciting spinouts,” recalled Parks. “Some were actually beginning to succeed, having measurable impact on perception and employment, going public, selling stock, being viewed as growth opportunities by dispassionate investors. In the 1980s, these early leaders included Duquesne Systems – which became Legent – and Black Box, followed by the Carnegie Group in the ’90s.”

Then came the watershed moment for Pittsburgh’s technology community. The day Fore Systems went public.

“Fore Systems in 1994 made its public debut and it was very important,” said Parks. “It was the first time it was suggested to the world beyond Pittsburgh that we were legitimate, producing companies worthy of public consideration. At the same time, other local companies were growing, like Medrad, which had been around for 20 years before going public, and Respironics. But Fore Systems, a CMU spinout, with its Silicon Valley-like product, financing and exponential growth, became symbolic that Pittsburgh could do this. They laid down the marker. This notion had been started in the ’80s, but hadn’t truly manifested itself until the public offering of Fore Systems.

“The debate that carried well into the 1990s was, when are we going to reach critical mass, whatever that meant,” Parks said. “It was important getting past abject cynicism to determine where we fit in the constellation of regional tech centers. The Council served an important role of projecting an industry here bubbling just below the surface. We were trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. What I used to say is, ‘You’ll know it when we get there.’ ”

At last, the time was ripe to shine a spotlight on those entrepreneurs and companies leading the way among the local technology community. But still, questions and concerns about the size and scope of the effort had to be addressed.

“We knew it couldn’t be about the Council,” said Parks. “We had to find a way to point the attention back to the companies. The Council shifted focus, because the industry had reached a level of success where we could do this. The concern, though, was would there be enough stars to celebrate?”

The regional office of a major accounting firm approached the Council with a concept that had been used in other markets to solicit nominations in various categories and fete the top achievers while still recognizing the contributions of all entrants in the respective categories. And the Tech 50 was born.

“We decided we were ready to celebrate the rising potential in smaller companies getting started in this region,” Parks said. “The whole concept was a celebration of the entrepreneurship and achievement in the local technology industry. The Council was ready, the industry was mature enough.”

Since those first Tech 50 Awards in 1997, scores of individuals and organizations have been nominated, judged, honored and celebrated. The Tech 50, indeed, has become technology’s night to shine in this part of the world.

But what about the future? Can Pittsburgh maintain its brief, but successful, history of fostering, growing, and sustaining quality technology innovations and innovators?

“To its credit, Pittsburgh is trying to address some serious issues, like keeping CMU and Pitt students here once they’re done with their studies – that’s a tough one,” admitted Roseman. Silicon Valley and other regional technology centers are still a powerful draw. But I’ll tell you, I am not a native Pittsburgher. I’m from Boston and have lived in D.C., and I could have gone back to Boston or retired to Florida by now, but I haven’t. And why? Because the biggest attribute of Pittsburgh for me is the caliber of the people here. They are straightforward, warm and they do not speak with a forked tongue. That’s why I am optimistic about the future of this region.”

Parks commented on the future of the region’s technology chances within the context of the Council’s evolving role.

“All organizations go through a lifecycle,” he said. “The Council had gone through the early years as a novel and exciting new player on the entrepreneurial-economic development landscape, then through its awkward adolescence, and now is part of Pittsburgh’s organizational apparatus. Recently, to Audrey’s (Council CEO Audrey Russo) credit, there is a commitment to reinvent the organization to better connect with industry, mostly the younger entrepreneurial part of it. One measure of how well the Council reinvents itself is how Tech 50 entries begin to reflect the younger spirit found across the region. It’s tough because entering the Tech 50 competition is all voluntary, and those consumed with building success in their fledgling businesses either don’t have the time or don’t see the value in self-promotion.”

Unlike the old days, according to Parks, it no longer takes wishful thinking and self-fulfilling prophecies to convey the region’s technological prowess and sustainability.

“General media and the business community now accept the fact that Pittsburgh has a tech sector that contributes substantially to the economy,” he said. “We have a self-generating industry today, with second and third generation companies spinning off of well-established technology leaders based here. We still have challenges before us, and the Tech 50 is a small step in helping to address them. A last big hurdle, a threshold event, will be shifting the mindset here to a greater acceptance of the need for risk taking. We have solid companies, we are attracting top talent, but we’re still lacking in what I call an ‘elixir of attitude’ – meaning we need more people to accept the promise of an entrepreneurial future.”

Roseman essentially agreed, but added his own spin on what will help Pittsburgh technology – and future Tech 50 honorees – get to the next highest level.

“We have had some wonderful companies here that have made a lot of people a lot of money,” he said. “But we can’t seem to get over that hump of getting a huge technology company to locate in Pittsburgh. The good news is that we have the moxie to generate solid companies, but my dream for Pittsburgh is to have a biotech or technology company that is acquired and locates here – not one that is sold and removed from the region. This would generate so much pride and would bring so many more companies and jobs. Can you imagine if we had a company as large and as well-known as Microsoft in our backyard?”