a paper-thin flexible display wins gold.

the silver award is for TruFocal eyeglasses, which allow the wearer to manually adjust the focus, depending on whether he or she needs to see something close up or at a distance. the bronze award for a low-cost test that covers more than 100 genetic disorders.

This year—the awards’ 10th—the Journal received 597 applications from 30 countries. Journal editors reviewed the entries and forwarded 275 where the judges chose 49 for awards.

The judges assessed the applications on three criteria:

—Does the innovation break with conventional ideas or processes in its field?
—Does it go beyond marginal improvements on something that already exists?
—Will it have a wide impact on future technology in its field or in other fields?

Gold
Industrial Technology Research Institute, Taiwan
A manufacturing technique that promises to clear the way for commercial development of high-quality displays on flexible materials.

Silver
Zoom Focus Eyewear LLC, U.S.
TruFocal eyeglasses, which the wearer can manually adjust to give undistorted vision.

Bronze
Counsyl Inc., U.S.
A simple, low-cost genetic test that can alert prospective parents who might be carrying genes that could cause hereditary diseases in their children.

ComputingSystems
Lightfleet, U.S.
A novel way of connecting computer processors, using beamed light instead of copper or fiber-optic wires.

Runner-up

Marvell Semiconductor Inc., U.S.
A small, low-power networked home server, called the Plug Computer, that can deliver data and applications to a variety of devices.

Consumer Electronics
Industrial Technology Research Institute, Taiwan
A manufacturing technique that promises to clear the way for commercial development of high-quality displays on flexible materials.

Runner-up

NanoLumens Inc., U.S.
Lightweight digital displays that are flexible, thin and energy efficient. The first product, a 112-inch display, weighs less than 90 pounds, is less than an inch thick and consumes less energy than five light bulbs.

Ford Motor Co., U.S.
MyFord Touch, an instrument panel for cars that replaces traditional buttons, knobs and gauges with voice commands, customizable LCD screens and five-way controls on the steering wheel similar to those on cellphones and MP3 players.

Nokia Corp., Finland
An “augmented reality” browser for mobile devices, called Point & Find, that lets users get information about real-life objects by pointing a camera phone at the object.

E-Commerce
Receivables Exchange LLC, U.S.
An online marketplace where small and midsize businesses can auction their receivables.

Energy
InEnTec LLC, U.S.
A process that uses high-temperature plasma gasification to produce synthetic fuel from municipal and industrial waste.

Runners-up

Enphase Energy, U.S.
The Enphase Microinverter System, which converts the direct-current output of solar panels to the alternating current used in homes and businesses. The system includes a meter that collects information about panels’ performance and sends it to a website where customers can view the data.

Idaho National Laboratory, U.S.
An efficient, environmentally friendly process for making high-quality biodiesel from waste fats, oils and greases.

Solexant Corp., U.S.
Ultrathin-film inorganic solar photovoltaic cells.

Environment
NanoH2O Inc. U.S.
A nanotechnology-based reverse-osmosis membrane that promises to reduce the cost of running a typical desalination plant by as much as 25%.

Runners-up

Active Water Sciences LLC, U.S.
A portable, self-contained wastewater-treatment system, the Water Phoenix, that can convert municipal wastewater into effluent that meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards in less than 24 hours, producing little to no sludge.

Ceracasa SA and FMC Foret SA, Spain
A porcelain tile, BionicTile, with a photocatalytic glaze that reduces levels of nitrogen oxides and nitric acid in city air.

ClimateWell AB, Sweden
SolarChiller, a solar-powered air-conditioning unit that delivers heating, cooling and hot water to buildings without using electricity.

Health-Care IT
Department of Health and Human Services, U.S.
Software called Connect, developed by more than 20 federal agencies led by a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for technology that enables health-care providers to exchange health information electronically.

Runners-up

Life Image Inc., U.S.
A cloud-based platform for sharing and storing diagnostic images, such as X-rays.

Ingenix, U.S.
Disease Precursor Identification software, which can identify people at risk of developing costly, difficult-to-manage diseases, such as diabetes.

Materials and Other Base Technologies
Novacem Ltd., U.K.
A new cement-making process that takes in more CO2 than it emits.

Runners-up

Cambrios Technologies Corp., U.S.
A coating material made of highly conductive silver nanowires that can be used to create a transparent, less costly, bendable thin film for touch screens and other electronic components.

Bolt-A-Blok, U.S.
A building system that uses steel-reinforced concrete blocks that can be easily assembled into houses and other structures by unskilled labor.

MicroGreen Polymers Inc., U.S.
A method for reducing the cost of recycled plastics by adding a gas that expands the length and width of solid polymer sheets.

Medical Devices
Zoom Focus Eyewear LLC
TruFocal eyeglasses, which the wearer can manually adjust to give undistorted vision.

Runners-up

MIT Mobility Lab, U.S.
The Leveraged Freedom Chair, a wheelchair designed for use in developing countries that can travel on virtually any terrain. The chair is made from local materials so that it can be manufactured and repaired anywhere.

Abbott Laboratories, U.S.
The MitraClip System, a catheter-based device designed to repair damaged heart valves without open-heart surgery.

Aribex Inc., U.S.
The Nomad, a hand-held dental X-ray device. It’s rechargeable, can be taken anywhere and allows the operator to stay with the patient during the procedure.

Medicine-Biotech
Counsyl Inc., U.S.
A simple, low-cost genetic test that can alert prospective parents who might be carrying genes that could cause hereditary diseases in their children.

Runners-up

CardioDx Inc., U.S.
Corus CAD, a genomic test designed to help clinicians determine, from a simple blood sample, whether a patient with chest pain has a significant blockage in the coronary arteries.

Pacific Biosciences, U.S.
A DNA sequencer, which reads individual molecules of DNA as they replicate in order to determine an organism’s precise genetic code in real time-producing results 20,000 times faster with less overall cost than other systems.

DuPont Qualicon, U.S.
Tests using DuPont’s BAX System to detect pathogens in fish and shellfish and E. coli O157:H7 in beef and fresh produce.

Network/Internet Technologies/Broadband
Vidyo Inc., U.S.
Technology for delivering high-quality videoconferencing over the Internet or cellular networks at a fraction of the cost of dedicated “telepresence” systems.

Runner-up

Microsoft Corp., U.S.
An experimental Internet application, called Pivot, designed to help users to explore, organize and visualize collections of data quickly by showing relationships between the information.

Network Security
Symantec Corp., U.S.
A new way to head off the threats from malware such as viruses, worms and spyware. “Reputation-based” technology examines the usage patterns of millions of computers to spot dangers that traditional security products typically miss.

Runners-up

Panda Security, Spain.
Panda Cloud Antivirus, a free, cloud-based antivirus solution.

Symplified Inc., U.S.
Symplified SinglePoint, a cloud-based service that enables organizations to apply and enforce security policies and controls on cloud applications.

Physical Security
BriefCam Ltd., Israel
Video Synopsis, video-surveillance technology that enables a viewer to browse a day’s worth of recording in just a few minutes by creating a summary of all the activities captured by a camera.

Robotics
Liquid Robotics, U.S.
An unmanned seagoing craft propelled by the power of ocean waves.

Semiconductors
InVisage Technologies Inc., U.S.
QuantumFilm, an image sensor for digital cameras that uses semiconducting nanocrystals to capture far more light than traditional sensors.

Runners-up

Industrial Technology Research Institute, Taiwan
Slim, flexible sensors. ITRI envisions use of the sensors in such things as electronic musical instruments and weight scales embedded in luggage.

STMicroelectronics, Switzerland
The iNemo family of smart multisensor devices, which can be used in new ways to measure movement, pressure, temperature and altitude.

Nanosys Inc., U.S.
QuantumRail, a component that delivers more vibrant color and brightness in notebooks and mobile devices as well as increased energy efficiency.

Software
Unity Technologies, U.S.
A set of game-development tools that make it cheap and easy to create three-dimensional interactive content, including games, training simulations and medical visualizations, for a range of devices from cellphones to game systems.

Technology Design
Gavin Thomson Design Ltd., U.K.
Efficient and compact storage of cookware, in which a set of three saucepans nest one inside the other.

Runners-up

Smart Lid Systems, Australia
A disposable coffee-cup lid that changes color from brown to red when hot.

Panasonic Avionics Corp., U.S.
An in-flight entertainment system that integrates a touch-screen monitor with a thin, lightweight economy-class seat.

Wireless
Ubiquisys Ltd., U.K.
A low-priced femtocell-a small cellular base station for use indoors.

Runners-up

Motorola Inc., U.S.
The iSIM, a thin, flexible wafer that attaches to the SIM card in a mobile device. The iSIM enables a host of new mobile applications built by third-party developers.

Shared Spectrum Co., U.S.
Technology that permits two or more networks or applications to share the same radio-frequency band by using channels when they are idle.

Pyxis Mobile Inc., U.S.
Application Studio, which allows companies to create applications for BlackBerry, iPhone, Android and Windows mobile devices from a single configuration with no coding.

Judges
The following served as judges for The Wall Street Journal’s Technology Innovation Awards. None of them voted on any entries in which their companies or organizations may have had an interest.

SCOTT D. ANTHONY
Managing Director,
Innosight Ventures

PETER BELL
General Partner,
Highland Capital Partners

MARK BERNSTEIN
CEO,
Palo Alto Research Center

LARRY BOCK
Special Limited Partner,
Lux Capital
Founder,
USA Science and Engineering Festival

ASHEEM CHANDNA
Partner,
Greylock Partners

ROBERT DROST
Virtualization Architecture Consultant,
Gold Winner, 2004 WSJ Innovation Awards

PETER GRAF
Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President, Sustainability Solutions,
SAP

BARRY H. JARUZELSKI
Partner and Global Leader of Innovation Practice,
Booz & Co.

RICHARD S. LANG, M.D.
Head, Preventive Medicine, and Vice Chairman, Wellness Institute,
Cleveland Clinic
Editor in Chief,
Cleveland Clinic Men’s Health Advisor

PING LI
Partner,
Accel Partners

PEDRO NUENO
Professor of Entrepreneurship,
IESE Business School, Spain
Executive President,
China Europe International Business School, China

RAY ROTHROCK
Partner,
Venrock

JANE ROYSTON
Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
President,
AQUA+TECH Specialties
President,
Fondation PRO

INDER SIDHU
Senior Vice President,
Cisco Systems

KENNY TANG CFA
Founder and Chief Executive,
Oxbridge Weather Capital

PETER TERWIESCH
Chief Technology Officer,
ABB

PROFESSOR WILLIAM WEBB
Director of Technology Resources,
Ofcom, U.K

[via wsj]