Technology Innovators Honored As Entrepreneurs Of The Year
Several people who have turned technical ideas into booming enterprises were honored on Nov. 14, 1998, at the 12th Annual National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (Palm Springs, CA). Winners in 12 categories were selected from 36 finalists, who had been culled from 492 regional award recipients.
To become National Entrepreneur of the Year, Edward Iacobucci developed more than a technology, a product, or even a company. Through Citrix Systems, he created a new industry—TCSC, or "Thin-Client/Server Computing." Over time, TCSC has overcome the industry predisposition to the "Fat" client-server computing model that utilizes a network of fully loaded personal computers.
Through innovative technology licensing, Iacobucci created alliances with more than 50 major hardware manufacturers. This created a new generation of TCSC terminals and devices that were driven by Citrix Independent Computing Architecture featured within WinFrame Enterprise , the company's flagship product. TCSC, in operation at more than 10,000 corporations and serving more than 5 million end users, features reduced hardware costs, reduced maintenance and support costs, reduced down time, improved performance, and enhanced security. Iacobucci, who lives in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, is also the national recipient of the 1998 Software/ Information Services Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Jeong Kim, founder of Yurie Systems Inc. (Landover, MD), was named the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Kim developed the technology that speeds the transfer of voice, video, and data over phone lines, satellite, and wireless networks via asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) access equipment. In April 1998, Kim sold his company to Lucent Technologies Inc. for $1 billion.
Fred Bauer, Master Entrepreneur of the Year, co-invented the world's first photoelectric sensor device installed in a smoke detector, which can today be found in commercial facilities throughout North America. After founding Gentex Corp. (Zeeland, MI), Bauer took the company public in 1981. This was done in part to help fund the development of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, which Gentex has since introduced to the world, first to market.
Other categories that were awarded include Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year, Service Entrepreneur of the Year, Real Estate/Construction Entrepreneur of the Year, and Retail/Consumer Products Entrepreneur of the Year. The contest is sponsored nationally by Ernst & Young, USA Today, the Nasdaq Stock Market, and the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Inc. at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Additional support is provided by Investor's Business Daily.
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