Tech leaders awarded for innovation in Melbourne
Brevard’s leaders in technology and innovation were celebrated Thursday night at the first-ever TechNovation awards banquet held at the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront and hosted by the Melbourne Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Each of the winners in five categories was presented with the Congressional Medal of Merit by Rob Medina on behalf of U.S. Rep. Bill Posey.
Awards winners:
- Lifetime Achievement in Technology: Both William Greenleaf, Rockwell Collins commercial fellow, and Tom Vice of Northrop Grumman were recognized for their career accomplishments in technology and innovation on the Space Coast.
“We believe that being an active and engaged member of the community is every bit as important as the products we make,” Greenleaf said.
“Lifetime achievement award… I’m not done yet actually,” said Vice, who added that a huge part of his mission is space exploration. “We are a team that deeply believes that in our generation we will find life on planets other than earth.”
Vice added that another objective of his work was to develop ethics-based artificial intelligence.
“We’re not going to be building Skynet,” he said, referencing the hit 1984 sci-fi/action film “The Terminator” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Technology Executive of the Year: President and CEO of Kegman, Inc. Susan Glasgow was chosen for her leadership and positive impact on her industry. She founded her company, which provides security and sensor system engineering and integration, in 2011 and it has since grown from two employees and $23,000 worth of business to 14 employees and over $1 million worth of business over the last several years.
“I have the best job in the world,” Glasgow said. “We are growing. We are $1.5 million. This time next year we’ll be about $6.5 million.”
- Rising Star in Technology: Jaycon Systems has only been around for five years, but in that time they’ve grossed over $1.5 million while providing product design, engineering and manufacturing.
“The work that we’re doing here on the Space Coast it’s not about Jaycon Systems, it’s about everybody,” said cofounder Derek Blankenship.
- Innovative Technology Product or Service : Mainstream Engineering Corporation (under 500 employees) for providing necessary research and development solutions for NASA, the Department of Defense and multiple other government and private agencies.
Blue Origin (over 500 employees) also received this award for their work in development technology that will eventually allow for commercial human space travel on top of their progress in creating reusable rocket technology.
“We could not be more proud to be on Florida’s Space Coast,” said Kelly Billon with Blue Origin. “Thank you for being such a great community.”
- Technology Cultivation Award: GroundSwell Startups for working with entrepreneurs to navigate the challenges of early stage companies. Their network of investors and innovators has helped secure angel investments for six Space Coast companies since last year, and their new coworking location will allow a space for entrepreneurs to cultivate ideas.
“What’s really awesome about the Space Coast is we’re really finding our voice as a community,” said GroundSwell CEO Jenna Buehler.