Local IT professionals selected as winners of 2011 Tech10 awards

By PBN Staff

PROVIDENCE – Ten local information technology practitioners and entrepreneurs were named as the 2011 Tech10 award winners on Tuesday.

The inaugural Tech10 awards program, presented by Tech Collective and GoLocalProv.com, is designed to honor the talent and accomplishments of local IT professionals and in the process identify “the future technology influencers and leaders of our state.”

“Talent, such as that exhibited by this year’s Tech10 award recipients, will be one of the key factors in attracting technology companies to Rhode Island and fostering overall industry success,” said Kathie Shields, executive director of the industry association Tech Collective.

Award winners were chosen based on professional success as well as a demonstrated passion for helping others.

• Jason Albuquerque – director of IT, Town of North Kingstown

• Hamzah Ansari – founder, Accelereach

• Michael Calabro – assistant director, network operations and services, Rhode Island Network for Educational Technology

• Andrés Douglas – founder, Bakodo

• Grant Fritchey – principal development database administrator, FM Global

• Heather Hartman – director, IS Technical Services, Care New England Health System

• Cheryl Lawrence – director of IT, Home Hospice Care of RI

• Dave Oakman – practice leader, Atrion Networking Corporation data center

• Sean Ransom – vice president of technology, BatchBlue Software

• Christian Smith – lead server specialist, FM Global

Three winners will be selected for additional awards honoring: tech citizenship, entrepreneurship and overall achievement.

The recipients will be honored Jan. 26 at the Tech10 Red Carpet Celebration to be held at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art’s Chace Center, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. Doreen Collins, comedian and host of NBC 10’s Rhode Bytes and UnReal Deal will be the master of ceremonies.