LEAP Awards winners announced at gala dinner

LEAP awards logoLast night, at the LEAP Awards dinner gala in Costa Mesa, Calif., the following companies were awards trophies in the 11 categories.

In the category of Additive manufacturing, the finalists were:

3D Systems
Figure 4

HP Inc.
Jet Fusion 300/500 Series

… and the winner is:

 

 

HP Inc. Jet Fusion 300/500 Series

The judges commented: “There are so many aspects of this technology that push the envelope. The material properties, print fidelity, surface finish, and print speed available with the Jet Fusion are taking 3D printing to the next level.”

In the category of Advanced materials, the finalists were:

Dura-Bar
Solution Strengthened Ductile Iron

L.J. Star Incorporated
MetaPlex Optical Grade Polymer Sanitary Sight Windows

… and the winner is:

L.J. Star Incorporated
MetaPlex Optical Grade Polymer Sanitary Sight Windows

The judges commented: “Rethinking the obvious and developing an elegant solution. Sometimes simple things are brilliant … This is one of those work horse innovations that delights industry. A new answer to an old problem with the customer’s needs in mind.”

In the category of Connectivity, the finalists were:

Cicoil
Micro IDC Cable

Fischer Connectors
Fischer Freedom LP360

I-PEX Connectors
MHF I LK Micro RF Coaxial Connector

Silicon Labs
Wireless Gecko SoC

… and the winner is:

Fischer Connectors
Fischer Freedom LP360

The judges commented: “A breakthrough signal and power connector with easy mating and easy cleaning that maximizes usability, efficiency and performance. This product changes the way of fast connection without looking. I think that this will change the way connectors and connectivity is done. A simple and great solution … very clever and useful product.”

In the category of Embedded computing, the finalists were:

Mentor, A Siemens Business
Mentor Embedded IoT Framework (MEIF)

Microchip Technology Inc.
SAM L11

RelChip, Inc.
Extreme Operating Microelectronics (EOM)

… and the winner is:

Microchip Technology Inc.
SAM L11

The judges commented: “This submission is brilliantly designed with security in mind from the start and integrates commonly used peripherals for IoT devices. … a good balance of speed, capability, and security versus power and cost.”

In the category of Fluid power, the finalists were:

Danfoss Power Solutions
D1 Pump

Eaton Corp.
Boom Stability Control System

FD-Groups America, Inc.
Auto-Steering Valve

Festo
Evolutionary Intelligent Pneumatics

… and the winner is:

Eaton Corp.
Boom Stability Control System

The judges commented: “This is a great improvement for boom control, not only for the concrete industry but for boom lifts and man lifts in general … Utilizes modern adaptive control system to stabilize the boom.”

In the category of Industrial automation, the finalists were:

Cognex
DataMan 470

Littelfuse
MP8000 Bluetooth Enabled Motor Protection Relay

Omnify Software
Omnify Empower / 6 River’s Robot Chuck

Omron Automation Americas
CIP Safety Controller

Parker Hannifin
Universal Pneumatic Valve Manifold

Protolabs
Farmbot – humanity’s first open-source CNC farming machine

Schneider Electric
EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor

Serapid
Telescopic Jib

… and the winner is:

Omnify Software
Omnify Empower / 6 River’s Robot Chuck

The judges commented: “Highly innovative and will improve productivity … a great product that will be so helpful to individuals doing picking and packing of the product being shipped.”

In the category of Mechanical, the finalists were:

CPC – Colder Products Company
Ultra-Compact LQ2 Quick Disconnects

R+W Coupling Technology
World’s Largest Ball-Detent Safety Coupling

Rolling Motion Industries
Traction Drive Technology

Twin Spring Coupling
TSC500 flexible coupling unit

WITTENSTEIN
Rack Assembly in Minutes, Chipless Pinning with INIRA

… and the winner is:

Rolling Motion Industries
Traction Drive Technology

The judges commented: “This is a game-changing technology that competitors will be chasing for years to come. Truly impressive performance.”

In the category of Motion control, the finalists were:

AMETEK
Windjammer Pro Brushless Blowers

ElectroCraft
RPX and LRPX

GAM Enterprises
Zero backlash gearbox

Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions, Inc.
15mm Linear Actuator

Kinitics Automation
KLA05 Linear Actuator

Lin Engineering
Miniature Hybrid Step Motor

maxon precision motors
Exoskeleton Joint Actuator

Oriental Motor USA Corp.
Battery-Free Multi-Rotation Absolute Mechanical Encoder

… and the winner is:

maxon precision motors
Exoskeleton Joint Actuator

The judges commented: “Excellent product in a ground breaking application. Maxon has taken a leadership role by packaging products specifically for the exoskeleton market … By providing an integrated assembly, customers will be able to focus on application specific elements without the burden of reinventing joint actuation.”

In the category of Power electronics, the finalists were:

CUI Inc
High Performance Peltier Modules with arcTEC Structure

Maxim Integrated
Himalaya uSLIC Solution

Mentor Graphics
MicReD Power Tester

Power Integrations
InnoSwitch 3-Pro

… and the winner is:

Maxim Integrated
Himalaya uSLIC Solution

The judges commented: “Amazing amount of performance and features in an incredibly small package. … Very high power density, low profile and good efficiency.”

In the category of Switches & sensors, the finalists were:

Omron Automation Americas
A2W Wireless Pushbutton

RAFI
RAMO Series Industrial Controls

Renesas Electronics
CMOS Image Sensor

… and the winner is:

Omron Automation Americas
A2W Wireless Pushbutton

The judges commented: “Great product and technology; an implementation of low-low-low power. Excellent! … Great concept to eliminate complex wiring in a crowded electrical circuit and other applications.”

In the category of Test & measurement, the finalists were:

Anritsu
Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A BERT

Keithley Instruments
DMM and DAQ

Mentor Graphics
T3Ster and FloTHERM and FloTHERM XT Calibration

Tektronix
6 Series MSO Mixed Signal Oscilloscope

… and in this one category there was a tie, so we have two winners. They are:

Anritsu
Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A BERT

–and–

Keithley Instruments

DMM and DAQ

The judges commented: For Anritsu: “This is one of those ‘can’t live without it’ type of products … this will probably become a standard tool for evaluating systems as we move to 5G and ever higher data rates.”

For Keithley: “DMM, Data acquisition, Data logging and analysis in one compact unit, which is an essential tool for testing, quality control and failure analysis of any electrical circuit.”


Congratulations to all of this year’s finalists and winners!

DELIVERING SUCCESS AT SCALE

My partner and I approached David at Re3dtech with our project and were greeted with kind and caring service. Throughout the last couple of months we have placed several orders in varying size and were even able to sit down with David and the owner to discuss our needs as a small business. Through this sit down we saw their passion for assisting both small and large clients in achieving their goals. We even had a hiccup with a batch of prints that was immediately addressed and remedied with precision and care. I almost don't want to recommend these guys because I feel like I have stumbled upon a hidden gem in 3D printing services and selfishly want to keep it to myself. Jokes aside we will be continuing our business relationship with the folks there and look forward to growing our order quantities and business with their help.
Re3DTech was instrumental in helping us get our product, Stroba™, to market faster! We needed a technology that could do snap fits and looks and feels as close the injection molded part as possible, and Re3D Tech was there for us. We used SOLIDWORKS Make to get in touch originally, upload models directly, and sign an NDA directly with their excellent team. It was really simple and easy to use their quoting tool as well. Excellent prices, excellent lead times, and superior quality are perfect words to describe our experience with Re3DTech. We went through many prototypes for Stroba™, and we at Goodfriend Innovations™ use Re3DTech for our other rapid prototyping jobs to help get our additional productions out to market faster than the competition. 5 Stars
I provided RE3DTECH three laser scanned ".stl" files for 3-D printing of prototypes. I used their on-line quote and file delivery process. The file acceptance and resultant quote were returned quickly. The parts were received at the quoted time. The parts are quite complex with many holes, angles, curvatures and notches. Each of the parts came out identical to the scanned parts dimensionally and passed the form/fit/function test in the upper level assembly. RE3DTECH has a high quality business process and produces high quality products. I will use them for future prototyping projects and recommend RE3DTECH.
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