The Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA), in partnership with Enterprise Minnesota and LifeScience Alley, has announced finalists for the ninth annual Tekne Awards, a celebration of superior technological innovation and leadership in Minnesota Oct. 30.

Fridley-based Aveso has been named one of the finalists in the category of Advanced Manufacturing Award - Small and Growing.

Awards are separated into categories that recognize the best in innovation, development, commercialization and management of technology in Minnesota.

Aveso is bringing one-time password-accessibility and durable sustainability to digital display technology for everyday items. Aveso develops and markets dynamic display ability for items such as credit cards and disposable medical diagnostic devices in a low-cost manner. The company has secured more than $17 million in venture capital and has enjoyed steady growth since its inception in 2004. To find out more about the MHTA, visit www.mhta.org.

SIDEBAR:

The MHTA and the Science Museum of Minnesota have teamed up to found the Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame. The first class of inductees will be honored at the awards ceremony.

The Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame honors Minnesotans whose achievements in science and technology have made a lasting impact not only to the state of Minnesota, but globally as well.

MHTA, along with the Science Museum of Minnesota, named a blue ribbon selection panel, drawing upon leaders in both the academic and business sectors to help select those deserving of induction into the Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame. Past Tekne Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are among those in the inaugural class.

That panel, along with founding sponsors Ecolab and Thomson Reuters, has unveiled the 2008 class of inductees as: Earl Bakken, co-founder, Medtronic; Seymour Cray, founder, Cray Research; Richard P. (Rich) Daly, founder and president, Consatech, Inc.; H. Ted Davis, former dean, Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota; Charles M. Denny, Jr., former CEO and chairman, ADC; Dr. Bernice Folz, founder, Graduate Programs in Software, University of St. Thomas; William (Bill) W. George, former chairman and CEO, Medtronic; Larry Jodsaas, co-founder, PolarFab; William C. Norris, founder, Control Data Corporation; Lawrence Perlman, former CEO and chairman, Ceridian Corporation.

The Hall of Fame, which will begin as a Web-based entity Oct. 30 at www.MSTHallofFame.org, will also soon occupy an expanding exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota.