Co-founders of SMART Technologies Inc. Receive Prestigious Manning Innovation Award
David Martin and Nancy Knowlton win award for groundbreaking invention and commercial success of SMART Board
interactive whiteboard
Calgary, AB --- October 22, 2002 --- David Martin and Nancy Knowlton have been awarded a prestigious Manning Innovation Award for the groundbreaking invention of the world’s first interactive whiteboard. Fifteen years ago, SMART Technologies Inc. began with an innovative idea that would make it the industry pioneer and market leader in interactive technology products. In recognition of this achievement, the co-founders of SMART received a Manning Innovation Award from the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation. The recognition is for intellectual achievement, uniqueness and originality, development, degree of commercialization, and economic and social benefits.
SMART shipped its first SMART Board interactive whiteboard in 1991, creating a new product category and enhancing distance collaboration and interactive learning. The interactive whiteboard enabled people to work and learn in shared spaces whether they were located in the same room or at remote locations. Additionally, SMART has pioneered several other new product categories, including mobile multimedia cabinets, whiteboard cameras and meeting productivity software.
Since 1995 SMART has been granted seven patents on the technology embodied in the SMART Board interactive whiteboard from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, with additional patent applications now pending in the United States, Canada, Japan, China and Europe.
“It is an honor to be recognized for SMART’s pioneering technology achievements,” says David Martin, chairman and CEO of SMART Technologies Inc. “The spirit of innovation that this award honors is at the core of SMART’s success.”
“Building SMART from an innovative idea into an industry-leading, multimillion dollar company has been both challenging and rewarding,” says Nancy Knowlton, president and COO of SMART Technologies Inc. “We hope our achievements and the recognition program of the Manning Innovation Awards will encourage other Canadian innovators to develop new ideas, persevere and bring these ideas to fruition.”
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard has built a strong foundation for the company. SMART’s revenue has grown at a compound annual rate of at least 40 percent for the past five years. Currently selling its products through resellers in 65 countries worldwide and employing more than 380 staff, SMART has opened offices in Bonn, Tokyo, New York and Washington, DC within the past two years.
History of the SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard
David Martin, now chairman and CEO of SMART Technologies Inc., originally developed the product concept for the SMART Board interactive whiteboard.
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard was the first interactive whiteboard to provide touch control of computer applications and annotation over top of standard Microsoft
Windows applications. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard, connected to an LCD panel and a computer, introduced the world to interactive technology for classrooms, group meetings and presentations.
In those early years, it took a substantial effort to let people know about the product and its benefits. Some early adopters of SMART products were educators involved in distance learning. Challenges inherent in distance learning in the early nineties included low speed modems, early versions of Microsoft Windows that were often unstable and slow processors with limited graphics capability. However, bit by bit, teachers, business people and government staff around the world came to appreciate the new way in which they could do their jobs using the SMART Board interactive whiteboard.
Today, SMART continues to drive the market with innovative, interactive technology products.
About the Manning Innovation Awards
Established in 1982 to recognize and encourage Canadian innovation, the Manning Innovation Awards have showcased inventions ranging from the artificial knee to the V-chip.
In addition to the Manning Innovation Award, SMART recently received a Canada Export Award and an Alberta Science and Technology (ASTech) Award.
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For more information, please contact:
Public Relations
SMART Technologies Inc.
300, 1207 - 11th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB CANADA T3C 0M5
Phone +1.403.802.3337 Fax +1.403.228.2500
pr@smarttech.com
Please note that SMART is written in all capital letters.