BC Hydro First Prize Winner
Traction Technologies
Truckers facing newly mandated North American Cargo Securement Standards will appreciate Traction Technologies’ new, automated cargo-securement system. The Kamloops firm’s new Tie-Down Safety System (patent pending) uses pressurized air to tighten tie-downs, such as straps, cables and chains, for securing various types of cargo. The system reduces the potential for cargo-shifting, as well as operator injury during loading and unloading. Inventors Andrew Ross and Casey Dundass of Traction Technologies, a Kamloops engineering firm specializing in road safety products, say their system complies with the new standards mandating automated tie-downs for specific hauling applications. The new standards come into effect in 2009.
Second prize Winner
ComVu Media Inc.
Pocketcaster, from ComVu, turns a mobile phone into a live broadcasting device. With the push of a button on a camera phone, citizen reporters, bloggers, family members, friends and business associates can broadcast live events to their communities of viewers, who watch the live broadcast on their own mobile devices or on computers loaded with Windows Media compatible players. ComVu has integrated its broadcast software with services that include video archiving on ComVu servers, a personal broadcast page accessible by viewers, instant notification, posting to blogs and pay-per-view.
Third Prize Winner
Quin Media Arts and Science
The architecture, entertainment and advertising industries will appreciate a new imaging and design method, called the Ombrae system, that gives a three-dimensional appearance to textures, patterns and images. Created through a combination of design, science and technology, this new process transcends current image-making and surface-treatment techniques. Apply it to a building exterior, a highway retaining wall, a running shoe, even a decorative waterfall, says Rod Quin, the award-winning artist, sculptor, and film technician who created the technique. Variations in lighting and viewer position create perceived changes in the designs and capture attention.
Sustainability Winner
SyncWave Energy
