Since 1987, the CONNECT Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards have been San Diego’s “Oscars” for local technology innovation.  The 2011 finalists in the Clean Technology category include Genomatica for Process for High-Volume Chemicals from Renewable Feedstocks, Noble Environmental Technologies Corporation for ECOR and Wildcat Discovery Technologies for 5V Cathode (CM1) and Electrolyte (EM1).  Winners will be announced on Friday, December 9th before an audience of more than 800 of San Diego’s top executives, entrepreneurs, VCs and academics.  Click here to register for the MIP exhibition and awards luncheon. 

San Diego’s 18th Annual TechAmerica High Tech Awards finalists in the Clean Technology category include EcoATM, Hadronex, Juice Technologies and Sapphire Energy.  Click here to register for the October 28th event. 

The regional cleantech cluster in San Diego continues to receive national recognition.  On Wednesday the Global Cleantech Cluster Association announced the semifinalists for the 2011 Later Stage Award competition.  This best-of-the-best recognition includes four San Diego cleantech companies, Genomatica, PowerGenix, Achates Power and EcoATM.  In another forum Sapphire Energy was honored as a “Game Changer of the Year 2011” in Clean Technology by Grow-California for their impact on California’s green industry.

Action and Sport Technologies
Aerospace and Security Technologies
Clean Technology
Communications and IT
Hardware and General Technology
Life Sciences – Diagnostics and Research Tools
Life Sciences – Medical Products
Software

To be considered for the 2011 MIP Awards, the product must have been developed in San Diego and introduced between March 2010 and September 2011 and never been nominated for this award before.  The product must have generated revenue from sales.

For scores of San Diego innovators the CONNECT MIP Awards have opened doors to investors, venture partners and customers.  If you are a San Diego innovator the products which you have recently introduced may qualify for the 2011 MIP Awards.  Click here to submit your nomination.  The nomination deadline is September 2nd.

Winners will be announced on Friday, December 9th before an audience of more than 800 of San Diego’s top executives, entrepreneurs, VCs and academics.  Click here to register for the MIP exhibition and awards luncheon. 

The Clean Technology winner in 2010 was Multispark, LLC for PowerSTAR Performance Spark Plug. 

Now in its 25th year, CONNECT is the globally recognized, non-profit organization fostering entrepreneurship in the San Diego region by accelerating the growth of the most promising technology and life sciences businesses.  Springboard, CONNECT’s flagship program, is a business creation and development program.  Innovators at all stages receive hands-on mentoring by successful CEOs, CFOs and CMOs in Springboard’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Program.  The three to five month program includes comprehensive business coaching culminating in the Springboard Panel Presentation.  In the past five years over 180 local ventures have benefited from the contribution of Springboard.  It is remarkable that something of such value is free.  It is one of the reasons why the CONNECT model has been copied around the globe.

It is always a great end-of-summer afternoon when you can spend time with successful people who take pleasure from sharing with innovators and entrepreneurs.  A little wine, great conversation and a stunning sunset over blue water is a classic San Diego day.

Click here for the list of 554 Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Domain Experts who support Springboard. 

To learn more contact the Springboard Director Ruprecht von Buttlar rvonbuttlar@connect.org

To be considered for the 2010 MIP Awards, the product must have been developed in San Diego and introduced between September 2009 and September 2010.  The product must have generated revenue from sales.

Winners will be announced on Friday, December 10th before an audience of more than 800 of San Diego’s top executives, entrepreneurs, service providers, and academics.  Click here to register for the MIP exhibition and awards luncheon. 

For scores of San Diego innovators the CONNECT MIP Awards have opened doors to investors, venture partners and customers.  If you are a San Diego innovator the products which you are introducing today may qualify for the 2011 MIP Awards.  Plan ahead.  The nomination process begins again in July 2011.

On Tuesday the California Department of Labor awarded the San Diego region a $4 million grant to implement new workforce training programs for jobs in the emerging biofuels industry.  The San Diego Biofuels Initiative, a collaborative effort including CleanTECH San Diego, BIOCOM, San Diego Regional EDC, San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB) and the San Diego Workforce Partnership, captured the grant.  The San Diego Biofuels Initiative’s proposal, titled the Educating and Developing Workers for the Green Economy (EDGE Initiative), will provide education, training and placement services to unemployed and dislocated workers within San Diego and the Imperial Valley.

Also on Tuesday the Governor’s Office of Economic Development designated the San Diego region as a California Innovation Hub.  The designation clears the way for the San Diego iHub Consortium to apply for stimulus funds from the Federal government.  The consortium has identified biofuels, wireless health and solar power/energy storage as the three areas of greatest job growth potential.

On Monday the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB) announced that the region will receive funding of $9 million from the Department of Energy for algae R&D.  A team of seven companies including locals Sempra Energy, General Atomics and Sapphire Energy are adding another $3 million to support the R&D effort.

CleanTECH San Diego’s website lists 37 Biomass Energy & Biofuel local companies in their company database. 

On July 20^th CONNECT presents Algae Biotechnology: Working to Transform Fuel, Food and Medicine with Stephen Mayfield, Director, San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology and John Dove Isaacs Chair of Natural Philosophy Department of Biological Sciences, UC San Diego.  Click here for details.

Two new algae resources

National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap, a 140 page report just released by U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the Biomass Program.  (This PDF file is 7 MB).

Also new is a report from the Milken Institute, Scaling Enterprise Finance, The Future of Biofuels, which addresses the question, “How can we facilitate the flow of private capital into the production of biofuels?”  Please e-mail me at glenn@glennmosier.com for a PDF copy of this 40 page report.

Calit2 Federal Funding Portal @ CONNECT

The enormity of the funds originating from Federal programs and grants is both an opportunity and a problem.  The smart people of UCSD have automated the process and are collaborating with CONNECT to make the resource available to local innovators and entrepreneurs.  Working with the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) CONNECT has developed a new set of tools to help member companies and local entrepreneurs identify federal research funding opportunities.  Click here to access Calit2 Federal Funding Portal @ CONNECT.

The X Lists

Last week Xconomy rolled out the X Lists, “the region’s best resource for innovators and entrepreneurs”.  Much of the entrepreneurial process is about accessing information and identifying people who have answers as efficiently and quickly as possible.  The X Lists are a great place to begin the journey from not-knowing to knowing.  Click here for Bruce Bigelow’s description of this valuable resource.

The overused words-of-wisdom about real estate are location, location, location.  Maybe the same should also be said about entrepreneurial innovation.  The cornucopia of resources available at the San Diego location provides a winning advantage to those who seek to grow their enterprise through innovation.

Recently Roth contributed an Insight & Opinion article for the Xconomist Forum.  Click here to read Addressing the Innovation “Valley of Death:” It’s the Products, Stupid!

 You can also check out the paper authored by Roth and Pedro Cuatrecasas of UCSD presented by the Kauffman Foundation. 

 The press release from the Kauffman foundation is here.

Everything You Need To Access Federal Grants is the self-explanatory title of the October 14th Financial Forum sponsored by CONNECT.  This first event of its kind in San Diego will be a one-stop shop to learn all about grants.  This is your opportunity to tap into the huge reservoir of “lessons learned” of the top funding experts in San Diego.

The most detailed section of the CONNECT website is the SBIR and STTR Resources page.  It provides directions to wherever you want to go in the money maze which is our government.  I am someone who learns best by looking at an example.  You will want to check out the two sample proposals at the bottom of the Resources web page.

The MIP honor in the Clean Technology category last year went to Reaction Design for Energico.  You will have to wait until December 11^th to learn who gets the trophy in 2009.

Connect with CleanTECH San Diego

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Place: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
12235 El Camino Real,
San Diego, CA 92130

Event will take place in the outdoor courtyard.

Link to REGISTER