Elastec/ American Marine Wins Award for Innovation
Elastec/American Marine Wins Award for Innovation
On The Today Show on October 1 Popular Mechanics magazine awarded Elastec/American Marine a 2012 Breakthrough Award for its patented Grooved Disc oil skimmer technology. The awards now in their eighth year recognize innovators and products that have dramatically advanced the fields of technology medicine space exploration automotive design environmental engineering and more. Elastec/American Marine and other winners were honored at an invitation-only conference and gala awards ceremony in New York City on October 4 and in the November issue of Popular Mechanics available on newsstands October 16.
At the awards event Donnie Wilson CEO of Elastec/American Marine participated in a panel discussion on the innovation economy where the following questions were discussed:
• How does innovation work in America today?
• Is it an entrepreneurial phenomenon where individuals with smart ideas create new and useful things?
• Is it a corporate function where companies invest in R&D to gain competitive advantage?
• Does it require the large-scale resources of the federal government?
The panel of creative people from different areas of the U.S. innovation economy explored the American innovation gene and what it will take for the country to remain competitive in the 21st century.
Elastec/American Marine manufactures pollution control equipment to clean up the world’s environmental accidents and disasters. Its fire boom systems successfully corralled and burned the highest volume of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill in 2010 preventing masses of crude from coming ashore. In 2011 the company won the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE for its innovative mechanical Grooved Disc oil skimmer the technology that won the Breakthrough Award.
“We are once again excited to recognize this year’s list of incredible honorees for their role in shaping the future” said James B. Meigs editor-in-chief of Popular Mechanics. “From a featherweight metal to the world’s fastest and most electrically efficient supercomputer this year’s winners embody the creative spirit that the Breakthrough Awards were founded upon.”
A full list of winners can be found at www.popularmechanics.com/breakthroughawards.
Past recipients of the award include movie director James Cameron genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter efficiency expert Amory Lovins inventor and FIRST Robotics founder Dean Kamen and humanitarian engineer Amy Smith.
Popular Mechanics’ Breakthrough Awards are given in two categories: innovators whose inventions will make the world smarter safer and more efficient in the years to come and products which are setting benchmarks in design and engineering today.
