TechColumbus made the following awards last night at their 2006 TopCat awards event at the Columbus Convention Center:

J. Richard Schorr, President, MetaMateria Partners LLC - Executive of the Year for Technology Business less than 50 employees:

Richard Schorr has built MetaMateria around the idea of accelerating the development and commercialization of advanced materials technology.  From a staff of three in 2002 there are more than 25 providing unique solutions for the development of nano-enabled products.  Performance enhancement has been shown for fuel cells, batteries, thermoelectrics, superconductors, optical materials, and construction materials.  The company focuses on energy, advanced materials, and water purification sectors.  Dr. Schorr has more than 30 years experience managing technology groups and 10 years heading manufacturing.  He has been a leader of the American Ceramic Society and was president of the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers.

Anna Lee Tonkovich, PhD, Manager, Technology Development Center, Velocys - Inventor of the Year:

For the chemical and fuel production industries, Velocys and a handful of others are starting to develop reactors that are smaller, more efficient, lower cost, and produce fewer pollutants.  Dr. Tonkovich is at the forefront with her innovations in microchannel process technology, a revolutionary approach that holds the potential to provide energy and chemical companies with substantial cost savings, improved yields, and greater efficiencies.  Her patent protected inventions greatly accelerate chemical reactions - at rates of 10 to 1000 times faster.  Dr. Tonkovich's most notable invention deals with commercially valuable, high temperature gas phase reactors.  She holds 40 issued US patents, including 9 in 2006.  She has more than 60 patent applications published or pending.