-->

Flagship Clients Receive TechPoint Mira Award Nominations

Flagship Enterprise Center clients Truck Emission Control Technologies (TECT) and XADS have been nominated for the prestigious TechPoint Mira Award in the categories of “Innovation of The Year” and “Advanced Manufacturing Company,” respectively. The Innovation Category recognizes products that are truly unique and provide a special benefit to potential customers.

Truck Emission Control Technologies, nominated for the “Innovation of the Year” category, is a developer and manufacturer of diesel emission control products headquartered in Anderson, Ind. TECT’s emission reduction product is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Emerging Technologies List. TECT anticipates achieving 80% reduction in particulates as well as 60% reduction in NOx among other pollutants and toxic air contaminant reductions. An optional configuration without the EGR is capable of achieving 85-95% reduction in particulates.

Nominated for the “Advanced Manufacturing Company” category, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS) Ltd., a privately held Anderson, Ind. based company, is a pioneering producer of non-lethal and anti-material Directed Energy Weapons (DEW). “The Mira Awards are an honor to any Indiana Company,” says Pete Bitar, Chief Developer and President of XADS, “and I think in our case, it would symbolize recognition of the ‘hope’ we are trying to inspire in our community and in the statewide economy,”.

XADS is researching and engineering innovative solutions that seek to change the nature of the use of force in the 21st century. Bitar has forged the alternative weapons field with the innovative StunStrike defense systems. StunStrike, a Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awarded program, is a patent-pending technology, which delivers aimed electrical energy to a specific objective in order to effectively deter or disable a target in a non-lethal manner. “We are trying to do this using out-of-the-box technology and applications to solve big problems in unique and futuristic ways,” says Bitar. “We think that this kind of inspiration will lead others to do even greater things in their fields, which will bring a leap forward for Indiana and hopefully, ultimately, our nation.”

Judges chose from a record number of nominations in 15 categories this year, including the new “Excellence and Innovation in New Media” category. Now in its 11th year, TechPoint’s Mira Awards recognize the achievements of Indiana’s outstanding technology performers and contributors, and focuses attention on the broader issue of the important role technology plays in Indiana’s economy.

Jim Jay, president and CEO of TechPoint, said that more people are participating in the Mira Awards this year than ever before. He attributes the program growth to a new “Excellence and Innovation in New Media” category, the states thriving health care information technology community, and Indiana’s robust tech industry at large.

“More than 1,500 technology companies are operating in the state of Indiana and no other state can reasonably claim to have the leadership positions in new media “measured marketing” or health care IT that we do,” Jim Jay said. “Tech companies based in Indiana realize greater overall business value than those located on the coasts because of our superior tech workforce, educational resources and lower infrastructure costs. I think that’s reflected in receiving a record number of nominations for Mira Awards following the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.”

The winners will be announced at the Mira Awards Gala, an “Oscars-style” award ceremony being held Saturday, May 15, at The Westin Indianapolis. TechPoint will again honor past Mira Award winners and finalists attending the ceremony with a special “Winner’s Circle” reception. Visit http://www.techpoint.org/Mira/Pastwinners.htm for a complete list of previous Mira Awards winners and finalists.

Created through a partnership between Anderson University and the City of Anderson, the Flagship Enterprise Center serves as a small business incubator and growth stage business accelerator. Through its client-specific Client Support Program, the FEC helps emerging companies to become independently viable. Located at I-69 and (exit 22) in Anderson, the FEC provides ongoing contact with management consultants, university researchers, student mentoring opportunities and access to capital. For more information, contact DeWayne Landwehr at (765) 622-0800 or visit the FEC web site at www.flagshipenterprise.org.