22 Jun 2017 Congratulations to our 2017 TIAs Winners

The BC Tech Association is committed to making BC the best place to build a tech company through programs that help organizations collaborate, learn and grow together. Last night in Vancouver, they announced this year’s Technology Impact Awards winners.

Since 1993, the tech industry has quintupled to nearly $26 billion in revenue that includes 9,000 companies, employing more than 150,000 people and is one of the strongest contributors to BC’s economic growth over the past decade. The TIAs celebrate BC’s world class leaders and rising stars in innovation and technology.

From ID verification to energy storage solutions to farming technology and more, this year’s winners make up a diverse group of companies that are reaching global audiences.

“The BC Tech industry has never been more vibrant and diverse. Every year through the TIAs, we celebrate the technology up-and-comers and leaders that are transforming the BC tech ecosystem. The calibre of talent of the finalists and winners this year is outstanding and we congratulate each of them for their accomplishments.” – Bill Tam, President, BC Tech Association.

The winners:

• Most Promising Pre-Commercial Technology – ARTMS Products Inc. (www.artmsproductsinc.com)
• Excellence in Product Innovation – Corvus Energy (www.corvusenergy.com)
• Adoption of Technology – Copperleaf Technologies Inc. (www.copperleaf.com) and the BC Government (http://www2.gov.bc.ca)
• Most Promising Startup – Semios Technologies Inc. (www.semios.com)
• Emerging Company of the Year – Trulioo (www.trulioo.com)
• Company of the Year – STEMCELL Technologies Inc. (www.stemcell.com)
• Team of the Year – Clio (www.goclio.com)
• Community Engagement – Allocadia Software Inc. (www.allocadia.com)
• Person of the Year – Shafin Tejani, Founder, Victory Square Labs
• Bill Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award – Dr. Alan Winter
• People’s Choice Award – Traction on Demand (www.tractionondemand.com)

The TIAs also celebrated the young talent in the province through their high school and post-secondary scholarships for students. BC Tech is committed to giving back to the community by providing five $1,000 scholarships to high school students and two $5,000 scholarships to post-secondary students.

With an exclusive partnership with Discovery Foundation that’s focused on initiatives around diversity, inclusion, and belonging, new to the program this year is the Equality Scholarship. BC Tech is proud to support the education of underrepresented groups in the community, and are committed to develop not only a diverse, but inclusive workforce where everyone feels that they belong.

The winners:

High School Recipients:

1. Cameron Hutchcroft, accepted into the Art Institute
2. Hamza Kamal, accepted into the University of British Columbia
3. Kittie Lam, accepted into the University of British Columbia
4. Stanford Lin, accepted into the University of British Columbia
5. Joshua Sam, accepted into the University of British Columbia

Post-secondary Recipients:

1. Hannah Charnock, University of Victoria
2. Kevin Zhang, University of British Columbia

Equality Scholarship Recipient:

Hannah Charnock, University of Victoria

Hannah identifies as member of under-represented groups in the science and technology communities, and is also actively involved in supporting and increasing recognition of women at all levels pursuing STEM careers.

“The culmination of my educational experiences thus far is best embodied in my work to create the initiative, UVic Women in Science in January 2017. This collaborative network aims to connect and support women at all levels pursuing STEM careers in an effort to increase the recognition, visibility and retention of compelling women in their chosen field. In just the past few months, we have established an executive board of four members including one male, a committee of fourteen women and a member base of over 100 subscribers who represent a wide demographic of ages, genders and fields of study.”

About BC Tech Association

The BC Tech Association is guided by our mission to make BC the best place to grow a tech company. For more than 20 years, BC Tech has been providing opportunities for the tech industry to collaborate, learn and grow together. We are dedicated to connecting companies, developing talent, sharing stories and advocating on behalf of tech companies to keep our industry thriving.
Since our founding in 1993, the tech industry has quintupled to nearly $25 billion in revenue. In that time, we have played a privileged role in supporting the growth of the tech community that now includes over 9,000 companies, employs more than 90,000 people and that has been one of the strongest contributors to BC’s economic growth over the past decade.