SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/11/09 -- CONNECT, one of the nation's most successful regional economic development programs for high technology and life science innovators, today announced the winners of the 22nd Annual Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards. More than 800 of San Diego's top executives, entrepreneurs and academics attended the lunchtime event at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines Hotel. For the past 22 years, CONNECT's MIP Awards have served as a benchmark for predicting San Diego's most successful emerging technologies.

The MIP Award winners were selected from 100 entries representing a broad range of companies within eight categories: action and sport, aerospace and security, cleantech, diagnostics and research tools, medical products, software, hardware and general technology and communications and IT.

The 2009 MIP Award winners are:

Action and Sport Technologies: Neptunic Technologies for Neptech Protective Material

Neptech Protective Material is a light weight and clothing-like protective textile used in the manufacturing and design of specialized gear for the action sports and defense industries.

Aerospace and Security Technologies: Intevac Photonics, Inc. for Night Port

Night Port is a digital night vision viewer which offers extremely low light sensitivity, compact size, low weight and increased power performance for government and surveillance applications.

Clean Technology: ecoATM for ecoATM

ecoATM is an eCycling Station that automates trade-in and recycling programs for consumer electronics and mobile phone retailers by automatically inspecting used electronics, evaluating the condition and enabling the immediate buy back directly from consumers.

Hardware and General Technology: Cymer for XLR 600ix

XLR 600ix is a flexible power excimer laser light source for semiconductor lithography, addressing the market demand for electronic devices requiring smaller and more powerful computer chips.

Life Science -- Diagnostics and Research Tools: Naviscan for the Stereo Navigator Breast Biopsy Accessory

Stereo Navigator Breast Biopsy Accessory is a Positron Emission Tomography (or PET) guided biopsy tool that enables physicians to guide compatible interventional devices toward abnormalities in the breast.

Life Science -- Medical Products: SynergEyes for ClearKone

ClearKone is a hybrid contact lens specifically designed for patients with moderate to advanced stages of keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease, that delivers a significant healthy amount of oxygen to the eye while maintaining a strong bond between the rigid and soft materials.

Software: Verance Corporation for Cinavia

A technology platform that employs Verance's proprietary audio watermarking techniques to enable the enactment of use policies for audiovisual content across a broad range of distribution channels and devices.

Communications & IT: Nextivity for Cel-Fi

Indoor cellular coverage technology that is network safe, mass deployable, self installable and provides a measurable difference coverage and data throughput.

In addition to celebrating the most innovative new products of the year, CONNECT also announced the William W. Otterson Award recipient. In memory of CONNECT's founder and first executive director, Bill Otterson, the Otterson Award recognizes technologies or products developed in San Diego that have demonstrated a significant positive impact on quality of life.

This year's Otterson Award was presented to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. for the Predator. The Predator is the most successful unmanned aircraft surveillance program that has ever been made to support all the U.S. armed forces in combat. The Predator provides tactical and strategic intelligence to operational commanders worldwide.

"The quality of this year's winners is a reflection on the strength of the innovation economy in San Diego," said Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT. "The MIP winners are great examples of the many companies that keep our region at the forefront of innovation."

The CONNECT MIP Awards program has been an indicator of the industries and technologies that have stimulated the San Diego economy, from early stage biotechnology companies to the first products generated by the region's telecommunications boom.

About CONNECT

CONNECT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and sustaining the growth of innovative technology and life science businesses in San Diego. Since 1985, CONNECT has assisted in the formation and development of over 2,000 companies and is widely regarded as the world's most successful regional program linking inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success. CONNECT focuses on research institution support, business creation and development, entrepreneurial learning, access to capital, public policy advocacy, awards, recognition and networking. More than 25 countries and regions have adopted the CONNECT model, including the U.K., Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia, and China. For further information, please visit www.connect.org.