RITEC awards event symbolizes group’s progress

The Rhode Island Technology Council welcomed more than 250 people to its fourth annual awards dinner on April 14, recognizing professionals from across the state for their contributions to the tech field.


Attendees to the event also got a chance to hear marine explorer Dr. Robert Ballard share his passion for exploration and how his technology aided his trips to the final resting places of vessels such as the R.M.S. Titanic, the Lusitania and PT109.


Katherine O’Dea, RITEC’s executive director, who also received the Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Service, said over the last year she feels the council has “come into its own.” O’Dea pointed to award winner Jay McNally as an example of the kind of entrepreneur RITEC is looking to champion and the state wants to add to its ranks.


McNally, the founder, president and CEO of Ibis Consulting in Providence, received the technology council’s Entrepreneurial Champion award. While he has already seen his data conversion services company take off (the company tripled its employment from 20 to 60 in 2003), McNally recently launched Kipoko, a new venture that will provide compliance management for electronic data. As if that wasn’t enough, he also has a third business being developed.


“For me, he’s really what RITEC is about,” O’Dea said. “Jay McNally is a serial entrepreneur who is willing to offer all kinds of help and advice to our members. He’s clearly a star.”


Ballard, a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and director of its Institute for Archaeological Oceanography, delivered the night’s keynote address. He discussed the development of his remotely operated vehicles, which allow machines to reach depths and spaces inaccessible to humans, and of the JASON Project, which uses fiber optics to connect students to his field teams in real time.


“Having Dr. Ballard there was just really fantastic,” said O’Dea, who added that Gov. Don Carcieri, Sen. Jack Reed and Providence Mayor David Cicilline all made an appearance throughout the night.


“It took RITEC and the awards dinner to a new level. I think we’ve really come into our own in the last year and to have people running the state pop in to give their support really shows that we’ve made a name for ourselves.”


A day following the event, Ballard announced that he and a team of scientists would be returning to the R.M.S. Titanic, the vessel which Ballard made his name finding and exploring in more than 12,000 feet of water off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in 1985. The purpose of the June return trip to the Titanic will be to scientifically observe the ship’s deterioration, as well as detail strict guidelines for the exploration and treatment of sunken vessels.


O’Dea said technology on display at the Crowne Plaza hotel’s foyer in Warwick, provided by Imedia and Rite-Solutions, added to the event by allowing attendees to sit in a simulated cockpit of an undersea rover and navigate the floor of Narragansett Bay.


Other award winners included:


• Bill Grossman of Cambridge Benefit Solutions received the Ambassador of the Year Award for his work as a liaison between RITEC’s members and its staff.


Presenting the award, RITEC Chairman Jeff Deckman said Grossman provides members an informal forum to turn to suggest changes, share knowledge and make connections. While his toughest critic is himself and even if he’d rather communicate with members using the fax machine before an e-mail, Deckman said Grossman is an asset when it comes to recruiting and renewing members.


• Dr. Jeff Seemann, dean of the University of Rhode Island’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences, who received the Workforce Development Champion Award. Deckman said the award recognizes an educational leader who is “empowering students in their pursuit of rewarding careers in technology.” Seemann is leading the development of the Biomanufacturing Training Institute and oversaw the start of URI’s certification and degree program in biotechnology manufacturing in 2003.


• Eric Robichaud, founder of Mediaweave, who received the Community Service Award along with his company for collaborating with a variety of local businesses to raise money for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.