UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Novasentis was a recipient of a Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) emerging technology (E-Tech) award during Super Mobility Week 2014 Sept. 9-11 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Created in 2006, the CTIA E-Tech Awards honor the industry's emerging, innovative and cutting-edge mobile services, solutions and technology. This year, more than 50 industry experts, analysts and media examined and scored nearly 300 entries.
Novasentis took third place in the M2M, IoT, Sensors, RFID and NFC category for its Clic 1010 Actuator. Thin Film Electronics ASA and Spansion Inc. took first and second place, respectively.
Qiming Zhang, distinguished professor of electrical engineering and co-founder of Novasentis, said, "The polymer actuators are based on our early work on the electroactive polymers invented and developed from 1998 to 2004 in my research group at Penn State."
He explained the Clic 1010 Actuators are the first only-Electro Mechanical Polymer products and are the world's thinnest polymer actuators. Made of radically new polymer materials, these devices can act as a second digitalskin for devices, which are capable of providing meaningful tactile and acoustic effects synchronized with touch actions. The result is a wider range of feedback or vibrations for hundreds of different activities and messages.
Additional award categories included Green Telecom and Networks; In-Building Wireless – Small Cell, Wi-Fi, LAN; Location and Proximity Services; Mobile Cloud; Mobile Marketing and Advertising; Mobile Money, Payments, Banking and Commerce; Wide Area Network – Core; and Wide Area Network – RAN.
Novasentis was founded in 2006 as StrategicPolymer Sciences, Inc. by Zhang and Ralph Russo, entrepreneur and former Apple Corporation executive. The company has expanded to include four locations in California, Pennsylvania, Japan and Korea.
Last November, Novasentis was recognized with a 2014 Consumer Electronics Association Innovations Design and Engineering Award.
Established in 1984, CTIA-The Wireless Association is an international nonprofit organization that represents the wireless communications industry. Membership includes wireless carriers and their suppliers, as well as providers and manufacturers of wireless data services and products.