Manufacturers depend on innovation in both products and processes to keep them at the forefront in the global marketplace. In fact, innovation no longer constitutes a competitive edge; it's the ante just to get into the game. The Wall Street Journal's Technology Innovation Awards, now in their sixth year, recognize a wide variety of innovations that are directly or indirectly important to American manufacturing competitiveness.
From a group of 121 entries, the panel of 12 judges, representing industry, medicine and academia, selected three overall winners, 12 category winners and 37 runners-up as technologies that represent breakthroughs from conventional methods, rather than just incremental improvements. Here are a few examples.