Tech companies, individuals selected for top awards

This story was originally posted on The Frederick News-Post’s website, FrederickNewsPost.com on Mar 26, 2010.

The eighth annual Tech Council of Maryland Frederick County Awards Celebration recognized three companies, an executive and a teacher for their achievements Thursday.

The technology leaders and firms were honored in five categories for their contribution to Frederick County region and beyond at an event at Dutch’s Daughter restaurant.

Year after year, Frederick County has consistently helped to advance the technology community in the state, said Renee Winsky, CEO of the Tech Council of Maryland.

“Tonight, we are honoring the very best technology leaders and firms in Frederick County,” said Laurie Boyer, executive director of the Frederick County Office of Economic Development and emcee.

The Frederick County 2010 Small Business of the Year Award went to ImQuest BioSciences.

The award recognizes small businesses that have shown vision and enterprise in their market sector and has met its targeted financial goals through a well-researched business plan, Boyer said.

ImQuest BioSciences provides preclinical drug and vaccine research and development services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. With a focus on the development of therapeutic and prevention products, ImQuest provides technical, professional and consultative support required for successful product development.

ImQuest is developing products for the treatment of HIV, solid and hematopietic tumors, and prevention of the sexual transmission of HIV.

The Service Provider of the Year award went to BridgePath Scientific, a veteran-owned small business in Frederick.

The award recognizes the company that has best shown unwavering dedication and consistent outstanding support and service to Frederick County’s growing technology and biotechnology communities.

BridgePath provides new and refurbished laboratory and scientific equipment, preventative maintenance, and repair services to commercial companies, academic institutions, not-for-profit research organizations and governmental entities.

BridgePath operates a commercial research laboratory and manufactures more than a dozen reagents and kits. By integrating laboratory equipment sales and service with laboratory operations, BridgePath more directly services its growing customer base.

WGS Systems, a Frederick-based engineering and electronics company, received the Firm of the Year award.

Founded in 2007, WGS Systems has had strong growth in both revenue and employment and has been an integral part of Frederick’s technology growth in 2009.

WGS specializes in systems engineering, electronic system development, integration, testing, training and support. The company excels at the efficient and reliable integration of equipment into surveillance aircraft and ground-based applications utilizing sound engineering principals. It focuses on equipping U.S. military and homeland security personnel with affordable and effective tactical battle-space awareness.

Scott Selle, president of Fairchild Controls, was honored with the Executive of the Year award, given to an executive who has led their company to success, made outstanding contributions to employees and has been a leader in the community.

Fairchild Controls is an aerospace company with engineering and manufacturing plants in Frederick. Fairchild Controls has been developing custom environmental, electronic and pneumatic control systems for commercial and military aircraft around the world for more than 80 years.

Nancy Stamatakos, math specialist and science, technology, engineering and math teacher leader for Crestwood Middle School won the tech council’s first STEM Educator of the Year award for extraordinary achievement in K-12 education.

As the math specialist and STEM teacher leader for Crestwood Middle School, she has found ways to provide students with experiences across the curriculum that generate interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Stamatakos has initiated several extracurricular programs including Science Olympiad, MathCounts, Mathalon and the St. Jude Mathathon. She is enlisting students to participate in the Young Scientist Challenge and working on a grant to create a multicultural STEM Jumpstart program targeting underachieving students.

“The technology community is really pleased that the tech council and the office of economic development hold these events that recognize hard-working companies in our area,” said Patrick Haley, CEO of BridgePath. “We appreciate the honor. This goes to our whole team.”