Innovators make changes often unnoticed by masses

Six innovations and the Idaho companies that created were honored by Stoel Rives Idaho Innovation Awards program. This program is presented by the Idaho Department of Commerce Office of Science & Technology, and sponsored by Hewlett-Packard and the Idaho Business Review.
The six winners were announced at an awards luncheon Oct. 2 at the Boise Centre on the Grove. More than 200 people attended the event. The awards are designed to be an industry-building event that brings worthy recognition to innovators making a difference, unite industry members and fosters the undeniable innovative spirit, Kris Ormseth
Nominations were judged by a selection committee of more than 40 leaders from private industry, government and higher education.
Dean Klein, Micron vice president of memory system development, delivered the keynote address.
“With innovation sometimes we don’t recognize it until it happens,” he said.
Klein said since this was speech to innovators, instead of a dictionary, he went to Wiki to look up the definitions as listed in the Web, self-editing dictionary. Of the myriad listing, the one point that continued to arise was the word, “new.”
“The essence of innovation is new things that are realized,” he said. “They are put into practice.”
As an example, he dropped his cellular phone. Several years ago that would have been a total disaster for the memory card inside; scrambling numbers, erasing everything. Innovation looked at the problems caused by this simple act and brought up a new application.
He said at Micron suggestions come in all shapes and sizes from all the various departments of the company. Everyone can see something and question an innovative way to save money, increase productivity or provide better service.
“It’s that taking that innovation in and putting it into practice that makes ‘great’ companies,” he said.
Klein used the varying types of innovations honored in the presentation as a way of depicting how universal innovation is.
“Innovation is global,” he said. “Not just in Boise, but everywhere.”
He urged those who were not being honored for their innovation to join in and become part of the innovation process by pushing for changes in education, workplace and community.
“It’s critical as we go forward as a state to have all this in place,” he said. “The people of Idaho have that background of getting the job done.”
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To contact the author write robb.hicken@idahobusiness.net