This story appears in the August issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
The 2024 Innovation Awards, presented by Foley & Lardner, pay tribute to the innovative spirit permeating Utah companies and the talented people working to alleviate complex problems with elegant solutions. Nominees are evaluated by leaders within Utah’s business and academic communities, who vote to select the finalists and award winners. The result is a cohort of awe-inspiring innovations that impact a broad spectrum of markets and industries.
Cleantech, Energy & Sustainability
Winner: 3form
3form’s Know New Plastic initiative harnesses revolutionary molecular recycling technology to increase the amount of recycled content in the company’s architectural materials, starting with its 100% Recycled Textures line. By supplementing mechanical recycling with molecular recycling, 3form can break down hard-to-recycle and degraded plastics into their original building blocks, allowing for infinite reuse.
Runner-up: Snowbird
snowbird.com/snowbird-power-systems/
Snowbird Power Systems, an energy-efficient cogeneration plant, creates massive efficiencies and reliability. It generates most of the resort’s power while recycling waste heat. The plant uses combined heat and power systems to boost electrical efficiency by 60 percent and save an estimated 62,000 dekatherms of natural gas annually. As the first ski resort in North America to utilize such a system, the new facility was forced to innovate beyond existing cogeneration plants in other industries due to Snowbird’s alpine environment.
Honorable Mention: Grid Elevated
Grid Elevated develops innovative solutions that harness the power of data and AI to address the challenges of modernizing the power grid to meet the needs of the next decade. Grid Elevated’s suite of AI-based solutions makes the application of AI a scalable reality for power utilities of any size. Unleashing the power of data and AI in day-to-day operations allows for more cost-effective and reliable energy distribution to customers, communities and businesses.
Emerging: Eden Technologies, Inc.
Eden Technologies has developed a revolutionary reverse osmosis (RO) centrifuge system that utilizes centrifugal force to provide the pressures necessary to purify brackish or saline water. This system is more efficient, less maintenance-intensive and simpler than any other municipal-scale RO system on the planet. By making seawater as affordable as freshwater, access to freshwater from seawater sources can be made more available to those experiencing this challenge most severely.
Community & Professional Services
Winner: auticon US
Auticon builds tech careers for autistic adults while connecting companies with outstanding tech talent, tech project services and neuroinclusion services. Our holistic approach includes neuroinclusion maturity assessments, training and e-learning, coaching, and advisory services. Together, these services help companies attract, support and retain neurodivergent talent.
Runner-up: Granite Federal Credit Union
Granite Credit Union and Rancho Markets partnered to bring the first fully Spanish-speaking in-store branch to Rose Park to better serve the community as an important financial resource. This innovation helps fill a financial need in the Spanish-speaking community by offering Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) lending and accounts, affordable check cashing and wire transfers, and lower rates on transportation and housing options.
Honorable Mention: Planstin Administration
Planstin Administration has developed an innovative approach to benefits that prioritizes the employers’ and employees’ specific needs — offering flexible, affordable and time-saving solutions to enable more businesses to provide healthcare benefits and support their employees’ well-being. Our approach challenges the status quo by prioritizing the unique needs of businesses and their employees rather than forcing them to conform to standard insurance offerings.
Emerging: Proximity, PBC
Proximity is a political campaign management platform that simplifies operations so current and aspiring leaders can connect more closely with voters. The genius of technology is its simplicity, and campaigns are inherently complex. Proximity solves the issues modern political leaders face by efficiently managing voter engagement, streamlining operations and enhancing transparency.
Consumer Products
Winner: ClearOne, Inc.
The ClearOne BMA 360 is an advanced microphone designed for high-quality audio conferencing and sound reinforcement in various settings such as boardrooms, conference rooms and other professional environments. Several phases of research and development resulted in a unique combination of hardware microphone layout, microphone sensor capability and optimization algorithm. The BMA 360 is a beamforming microphone array (BMA) and the first truly frequency-invariant beamforming array.
Runner-up: Bobelo
Bobelo is revolutionizing the beverage market with its unique self-carbonating soda packets, delivering unmatched convenience, health and environmental sustainability. Beyond its innovative packaging, Bobelo’s soda offers a health-conscious blend featuring natural energy, postbiotics for gut and immune support, stress relief, and essential electrolytes for hydration. The company also emphasizes sustainability by reducing plastic waste, as its products require no plastic bottles.
Honorable Mention: Nu Skin
Nu Skin RenuSpa iO is an FDA-cleared microcurrent body device that uses adaptive microcurrent technology to adjust to your skin’s unique conductivity more than 80 times per second, ensuring optimal and comfortable treatments. Paired with the Nu Skin Vera app for live data insights and personalized routines, RenuSpa iO offers a spa-like experience at home, providing wellness and beauty benefits like skin depuffing, contouring and toning.
Emerging: Loo La La
The Otter Topper is a urinal adapter for residential toilets for boys up to age seven. The modern adult-size toilet is not designed with the angles little boys need to be successful when standing to wee. The Otter Topper keeps the bathroom clean and free of damage and smell, creating a happier, healthier home and less stressful family life. It helps little kids keep their bathrooms cleaner so their adults don’t have to.
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Winner: Biolexis Therapeutics
MolecuLern represents a transformative advancement in the drug development industry, leveraging AI to revolutionize the historical process. It harnesses machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of biological, chemical and structural data with unprecedented speed and accuracy. MolecuLern boasts an 80 percent success rate in discovering new drugs, a stark contrast to the industry’s standard success rate of 1 in 10,000.
Runner-up: Calliope Biophysics
The Calliope Biophysics device enables rapid cancer detection in the tissue surrounding tumors during surgery, providing surgeons with real-time data. With a background in rocket science, Dr. Timothy Doyle (founder, president, CTO) applied a method of detecting imperfections in solid rocket fuel to the field of cancer. Unlike current methods, which take up to 15 minutes and require tissue removal, this technique preserves healthy tissue and ensures all cancer is removed, reducing recurrence and revision surgeries.
Honorable Mention: NarcX Solutions, Inc.
NarcX and NarcX+ are patented liquid solutions that destroy pharmaceuticals onsite, including illicit drugs, within minutes. Environmentally friendly and landfill-safe, NarcX products meet all Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulations. They eliminate the need for incineration, preventing drug stockpiling, diversion and environmental harm. NarcX addresses critical issues in the opioid epidemic by offering a rapid, safe and cost-effective method for drug disposal, transforming the multi-billion dollar drug disposal industry.
Emerging: Seek Labs
The SeekIt Platform is the world’s first stand-alone molecular diagnostic testing platform that enables laboratory-quality testing at the point of care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70 percent of today’s medical decisions depend on the results of a diagnostic test. Currently, patients must navigate a convoluted and expensive process to access these tests. SeekIt eliminates barriers to speed up the time between diagnosis and treatment, especially for rural patients.
Industrial Manufacturing, Chemical & Mechanical
Winner: Nano-Yield
NanoCote Core is a groundbreaking granular coating for dry fertilizers that utilizes a revolutionary formula infused with nanoparticles. By effectively encapsulating each particle with nanotechnology, NanoCote Core promotes an even distribution of nutrients, leading to enhanced soil moisture retention and improved nutrient dispersion. By promoting soil health and minimizing environmental impact, NanoCote Core helps farmers cultivate resilient and thriving ecosystems for future generations.
Runner-up: KIHOMAC
KIHOMAC’s Advanced Travel Pod is a modern solution for transporting luggage, tools, equipment and spare parts for the operators of F-35A fighter aircraft. It surpasses outdated Vietnam-era pods with over 10 cubic feet of cargo space and larger access doors. This innovation supports the USAF’s Agile Combat Employment doctrine, allowing for rapid deployment and enhanced combat capabilities.
Honorable Mention: MGO Modular Utah
MGO’s C3 Engineered Wall Systems deliver enhanced thermal and acoustic insulation; fire, water and mold resistance; and durability for construction projects. These pre-fabricated, custom-designed systems reduce onsite labor and waste while speeding up construction time. MGO’s C3 Solutions are designed for a 100-year lifecycle compared to the 40-year lifecycle expected of modern stick-built construction. Beyond building with a longer outlook, our C3 Engineered Wall Systems provide superior insulating value for more efficient heating and cooling, even in extreme environments.
Research
Winner: Krado
Leaflet revolutionizes plant science by addressing siloed data, high research costs and lack of standardization. Using agtech, it enables scalable, real-time data collection, generating 3 billion data points annually from 5,000 users. Its community-driven approach enhances precision agriculture and plant health for all. Traditional research methods for acquiring plant data require extensive resources, often only accessible to large institutions or corporations with million-dollar lab environments. Leaflet is pioneering a new way to research, empowering every person to be part of the solution.
Runner-up: Utah FORGE
Utah FORGE, led by the University of Utah and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is working to de-risk the tools and technologies needed to advance enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) technology. When successful, this will enable clean, renewable, 24/7 electricity worldwide. The project has achieved breakthroughs, such as successful water circulation tests proving commercial-level energy production. Innovations from Utah FORGE, like improved drilling techniques and high-temperature tools, are already being adopted by private companies, driving further industry innovations and reducing geothermal plant startup costs.
Honorable Mention: ARUP Laboratories
In 2023, ARUP’s Innovation Business Unit, led by Dr. Tracy I. George, was formed to accelerate developments in laboratory medicine and improve patient care. Combining ARUP’s clinical lab expertise with the University of Utah’s renowned medical faculty, the unit drives groundbreaking research. It has the potential to transform diagnostic medicine by pioneering emerging technologies and fostering industry-leading collaborations, significantly impacting the life sciences industry.
Emerging: Wasatch BioLabs
NESSI-Seq represents a transformative leap in genomic research. This technology allows researchers to read DNA at higher specificity, sensitivity and data quality levels and target specific regions of interest. It facilitates the development of tools for early diagnosis of complex diseases and aids pharmaceutical research. Joining forces with professors from Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, Chad Pollard founded Wasatch BioLabs in July 2023.
Software (AI, Commercial, Consumer, Enterprise & FinTech)
Winner: Awsm
Awsm is a fintech software platform that allows private companies to create an equity pool that they can use — as easily as Venmo — to reward and motivate their employees, contractors, partners, agencies, influencers, brand ambassadors, fans and even customers. This option for equity ownership can create meaningful financial outcomes for a larger group of people contributing to a private company’s success, not just the key executives or investors.
Runner-up: eBay, Inc.
eBay’s Universal Widget Render & Header Platform affects operations across most of the company. With these new solutions, eBay can launch site-wide UX based on a wide gamut of business rules, reducing delivery time from multiple months to a matter of days.
Honorable Mention: PatientGenie
PatientGenie seamlessly integrates AI into an intelligent all-in-one digital front door to help patients navigate the complexities of the healthcare system. By offering personalized guidance every step of the way, PatientGenie ensures patients receive the care they need efficiently and effectively. While digital solutions can drive organizational growth and success, significant costs arise when these systems fail to work in harmony. This disconnect results in the loss of valuable unified data points, eliminates seamless transitions, and limits the ability to deliver an exceptional user experience.
Emerging: OneApp
OneApp is an e-commerce management application designed to streamline and scale daily operations from product listing to order fulfillment. OneApp was initially developed to manage high order volumes more effectively. As the needs of e-commerce businesses evolved, it became clear that additional integrations were necessary to handle various aspects of operations, such as inventory management, product listing and order fulfillment. This led to the creation of OneApp as a comprehensive e-commerce management solution designed to centralize and streamline these processes, thereby enhancing business productivity and profitability.
Judges | 2024
Jared Braithwaite | Foley & Lardner
Ron Heffernan | Impact Capital
Whit Johnson | Foley & Lardner
Bret Larsen | Try Chief
Maren Laurence | Foley & Lardner
Jefferson Moss | Utah Innovation Fund, Utah System of High Education, Utah House of Representatives
Shawn Robinson | Solution Stream
Thomas Shields
Beth Smith | Ampleo
Blake Tengberg | Foley & Lardner
Find honoree photos here.