The 40 Hottest Transformative Technologies in the Bioeconomy: Nominations open

Who will be #1? who will get your vote? 

In Florida, The Digest announced the official opening of nominations for the 40 Hottest Transformative Technologies in the Advanced Bioeconomy. Nominate your favorite technologies here.

Labs, here’s your chance to shine

Whether the development is at a commercial company, academic lab, private or national lab, a private inventor, or a consortium comprising multiple partners, this is an opportunity to shine a light on great technologies created or advanced by your team — from the earliest stage on the bench to finished applications ready for commercialization through spin-out or licensing.

Eligibility

Any technology — a complete process, a component, a subprocess, a metabolic pathway, a computational system, a sensor, a control, a high-performing organism, a protective technology, an application — in short, any technology that contributes to the advanced bioeconomy is eligible for recognition — regardless of stage of development, although voters are likely to give more weight to proven technologies than good ideas.

Nominations — You Gotta Be in It, To Win It

Each technology that receives a nomination will be included on the ballot. Nominations will remain open through Friday, September 7th at 5pm ET.

Note: No company has yet made it into the Rankings as a write-in. So, nomination is virtually essential for a good result. “You have to be in it to win it.” so make sure you nominate the companies you are a fan of.
and you can nominate right here.

Nominee Examples

Our friends at the University of Minnesota have highlighted several new technologies this year that are excellent examples of potential nominees.

Biochar Absorbs Phosphates and Phosphate-Containing Herbicides and Pesticides (Organophosphates)
A technology to convert corn stover to an environmentally friendly biochar absorbent that removes phosphate and phosphate containing herbicides and pesticides from contaminated water such as agricultural run-off.

New Process for Converting Scum Oil and Waste Oil to Biodiesel
A technology to convert waste fatty acids such as floating grease and oil scums from wastewater treatment plants into ASTM grade biofuels. This technology can be used to convert waste vegetable oils such as cooking oil to ASTM grade biodiesel as well.

Malic Acid Based Polymers with Tunable Recycling Pathways
a polymer technology that provides two different recycling pathways for generating many unique polymers with a range of useful properties.

Versatile Biocatalyst System for Synthesizing Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Food Ingredients
a technology that makes possible biosynthesis of chemicals, pharmaceuticals or food ingredients difficult or impossible to synthesize chemically or development of diagnosis/detection kits or tools that require multiple-enzyme reactions (for industrial, scientific, medical and/or environmental purposes)

Nominate technologies here.

You can nominate a technology here. Voting will be open to all registered subscribers of the Digest who will have 50 percent of the vote. The Digest’s international panel of Due Diligence experts, also known as The Wolfpack, will review nominated technologies and represent the other 50 percent of the vote.

Voting period

Voting will begin September 11th and continue through 5pm ET, Friday, October 19th, 2018.

The Hot Party: Announcement of Hot 40 results at ABLC Global in San Francisco on November 8, 2018

The Hot 40 rankings will be announced at ABLC Global in San Francisco on November 8, 2018 at 6pm PT, and we will honor the technologists and the organizations responsible — companies, suppliers, industrial partners, investors and more at the annual Hot Party in San Francisco.

Write-in votes

All technologies that registered for the  Hot 40 Rankings are included in the Official Ballot, but if there is a deserving technology that did not register for the Official Ballot, selectors are welcome to cast a write-in vote for that company.

Voting criteria

Voters may judge for themselves what makes a technology “hot”. In our view, we believe that “hot” represents an ideal blend of visibility and credibility. Technologies that are substantive but unknown may be credible, but they are not hot. Likewise, technologies that are widely-known but hyped are visible, but not hot. Hot is not the same as “best” nor is it the same as “most popular” and the Rankings are neither intended to be a popularity contest nor a qualitative rating system.

Prohibited voting practices

Voters may not attempt to spam the ballot box through deceptive practices, nor may individuals or organizations organize spam balloting efforts. The Digest reserves the right to reject any ballot it deems to be the product of a spamming campaign or to cancel all ballots from that voter, or remove a company from the competition and such a determination will be made in the Digest’s sole discretion, and its decision is final.

In general, any practice designed to prevent a fair ballot is prohibited, and may result in the suspension of a company from the Rankings or the cancellation of any and all ballots which the Digest, in its sole discretion, deems to be tainted.

Permitted voting practices

Companies or individuals may exhort selectors to vote for a deserving technology — campaigning for a Hot 40 ranking is encouraged so long as the voting itself is fair and ethical. Yes, voters are permitted to vote for technologies they are personally, directly or indirectly, affiliated with.