And the winner is...

October 26, 2007: The best and the brightest were recognized Thursday at the third annual SSMARt (Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma Region) IT Awards. The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre and its sponsors recognized companies and influential individuals for their innovative use of technology and contributions to the regional sector at a sold-out gala celebration held at the Art Gallery of Algoma.

This year’s awards showcased local talent from Research in Motion (RIM). Rosalynn Medaglia and Angelo Fasulo (both former Saultites) were this year’s featured speakers and their presentation will focused on the history of RIM and their keys to success. Guest presenters included representatives from the Ontario Centres of Excellence and the Information Technology Association of Canada.

“Once again, the winners and nominees this year’s awards were a real testament to the talent of our local IT sector,” said Tom Vair, Executive Director, SSMIC. “The award winners are doing impressive work in the IT field and we certainly want to spread the word that Sault Ste. Marie is home to world class talent.”

The six award categories and winners were:

1. IT Youth of the Year: C.J. Bennett, Sir James Dunn. C.J. has shown great talent and ability in programming, has shown great talent and ability in programming, has completed grades 10 to 12 in Computer Science courses at Sir James Dunn, and is currently enrolled in a second grade 12 computer science course for the purpose of attaining his Sun Java Programmers Certification. He built a hall monitor program for Sir James Dunn using a video screen continuously running, serving the school as an information bulletin. In addition to displaying school information, the bulletin runs student/school achievements, rotating quotes, timers in a variety of text, image, video and sound formats and plays music during lunch hour while shutting down during class.

2. IT Student/Graduate of the Year: Dan Gowans, Exsalgo Corporation. Dan is a recent Honours Bachelor of Computer Science graduate from Algoma University College where he earned the John Rhodes Scholarship, the Award of Excellence for maintaining the highest GPA for his degree, and was on the Dean’s List. As a software developer at Exsalgo Corp, one of the SSMIC’s business incubator clients, this winner has excelled in creating new and refreshing visualization modules for Exsalgo’s Application Performance Factory and has been instrumental in the commercialization of this upand-coming technology. In his spare time, this winner has taught leadership, art and science at the YMCA, is involved in the Easter Seals and was webmaster for a non-profit environmental group.

3. IT Project of the Year: Group Health Centre, EMRxtra Project. Launched in August 2006 as the first Canadian project of its kind in changing the delivery of healthcare, this project has expanded the scope and quality of medical care while enabling effective longitudinal management of chronic diseases through the Group Health Centre's Health Promotion Initiatives program. The project involved the collaboration of three very large organizations: Group Health Centre, Ontario Pharmacists’ Association and Canada Health Infoway and has advanced the management of chronic disease with the enhanced sharing of clinical information between physicians, community pharmacists and patients through the use of information technology.

4. Best Website Award: www.OYAP.com developed by Miramar Design Studio. This youth-focused site was built with leading industry development tools including Adobe Cold Fusion, Flash and SQL. The site combines a provincial portal with general information and regional websites that features local information. A fully integrated content management system enables up to seventy-two school boards to log on and maintain their own information. .

5. IT Executive of the Year: Tamara Shewciw, Senior Manager of Information Technology at the Group Health Centre. For the past 15 years, Tamara has managed the Group Health Centre’s IT department and has been instrumental in the continued development and evolution of GHC’s innovative Electronic Medical Records system, which has become the cornerstone of their award winning Health Promotion Initiatives program. Under her direction, the Group Health Centre’s IT team of 9 members, presently support over 400 interdisciplinary health care members, 240 terminals and 300 PC’s, 14 remote sites and over 62,000 patient records in its GHC applications.

6. IT Company of the Year: Lucidia Studios, Ltd. Lucidia provides business solutions that create competitive advantages for their clients. In just under seven years, this company has grown to become the largest integrated Marketing Communications Firm in Northern Ontario, operating with a staff of twenty-four and has earned numerous accolades from community, business and government agencies along the way, paying testament to the quality of their work, business leadership and contributions to the community. Recognized as a leader in web site and web application development this winning company has demonstrated technical expertise and direction for both local, regional, national and international clients. Clients have included the Canadian PGA, The National Golf Course Owner’s Association, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, The American Federation of Musicians, The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, Delta Hotels, Group Health Centre, Community First Credit Union, Algoma Steel, Algoma Public Health and Tourism Sault Ste. Marie to name only a few.

The awards were sponsored by Research In Motion, Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS), Ministry of Research and Innovation, Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Algoma University College, Business Development Bank of Canada, RBC Royal Bank, Information Technology Association of Canada. A special thank you also to the Art Gallery of Algoma, A Thymely Manner, Compass Imaging and Echotech.



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