Innovative firms honored

Six companies were honored Thursday with Utah Innovation Awards, a program honoring significant innovations and the Utah-based operations that created them.

• Biotechnology — AnzenBio LLC's Bio Detector, a handheld device enabling fast, cost-effective, on-site analysis of a broad variety of bacteria, viruses, molds and biotoxins. Other finalists were Idaho Technology Inc.'s Razor Instrument and PathFinder Sample Pouch and the University of Utah's Telomere Measurement by Quantitative PCR.

• Chemicals — Sentrx Surgical Inc.'s Carbylan, a biomaterial promoting scar-free healing at an accelerated rate while preventing tissue adhesion. Other finalists were Chapman Innovations' CarbonX Non-Flammable Textile and High Performance Coatings Inc.'s Nano-Structured Coatings.

• Electrical devices — Wasatch Photonics' Dickson Grating, holographic optic diffraction grating technologies that efficiently manipulate light regardless of the light's polarization states. Other finalists were Barco Media LLC's Barco Blaze and MaxStream Inc.'s 9XTend RF Modem.

• Computer software and Web services — RappidMapper Inc.'s Life Dimensional Camera and Software, which provides real-world, photo-quality, three-dimensional views with GPS data and allows users to navigate the scene. Other finalists were NetDeposit Inc.'s NetCapture Business and NextPage's NextPage 1.5.

• Medical devices — TechniScan Medical Systems' Ultrasound CT Imaging System, a noninvasive, ultrasound imaging technology producing three-dimensional images of the entire breast automatically and at uniform resolution. Other finalists were Ariba X-Ray Inc.'s Nomad Handheld X-Ray System and Proximare Inc.'s Proximare PFO Occluder.

• Mechanical devices — Friction Stir Welding, through a collaboration of Brigham Young University and MegaStir Technologies Inc. It enables effective welding of previously unweldable super-hard metals that have a high melting temperature. Other finalists were Econova Inc.'s Econova Water Treatment System and Twisteron, by Utah State University.

To be eligible, the innovation must have either been created by a Utah-based company, whether at its Utah location or elsewhere, or a primary portion of the work on the innovation must have been completed by a Utah-based team of an entity based elsewhere.

The awards program is a statewide program sponsored by Wasatch Digital iQ magazine, the Utah Engineering Experiment Station, the Utah Information Technology Association and the business law firm Stoel Rives LLP, with support from MountainWest Capital Network and the Utah Life Science Association.

A committee of experts from private industry, government and higher education selected the finalists.

Thursday's awards presentation was held in conjunction with the Edison Conference and Innovation Showcase at the University of Utah. During the event, H. Tracy Hall, who invented a process and equipment to produce synthetic diamonds, was presented the Experiment Station's Pathfinder Award.