Dublin chip design company Redmere and Belfast medical technology firm SiSaf won the top awards at the Irish Technology Leadership Group’s (ITLG) annual dinner in Silicon Valley last night.
Redmere won the Innovation Award, recognising its unique technology which allows manufacturers to create thin and flexible cables for connecting high definition devices such as television sets, camcorders and digital cameras.
Its EyeWire chip technology can reduce the amount of copper in a cable by up to 80 per cent, which allows for thin flexible cables of about 2mm in diameter.
Monster, the leading cable brand, was its first customer.
SiSaf, which is headed by Dr Suzanne Roghieh Saffie-Siebert, a visiting professor at the University of Ulster, has developed a technology that allows for the delivery of drugs through the skin.
Its technology uses nano-particles, which allow the treatment to to penetrate deeper into the dermal layer, to target the cell membrane and be released in a controlled manner.
“Innovation is vital, and Ireland’s technology companies continue to offer great promise both in their home markets and on the international stage,” said John Hartnett, co-founder of the ITLG. “It is very rewarding to see Redmere and SiSaf being recognised for their success.”
The ITLG awards are sponsored by The Irish Times, and have been held annually since 2008. The ITLG is a group of senior Irish and Irish-American technology executives which was established to help Irish start-ups doing business in Silicon Valley.
The inaugural Innovation Award winner was Changing Worlds, a Dublin software firm which was subsequently acquired by AmDocs in a $60 million (€43.9 million) deal, while another chip design firm, Powervation, was recognised last year.
Last night’s event was attended by the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Before he left for Washington yesterday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the report of the Innovation Taskforce was being considered by Government, and that an implementation group, including some task force members, would look at what recommendations could be moved forward quickly.
