Enfer Scientific, a company which has developed a diagnostic test for BSE, has won this year's overall National Innovation Award, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Irish Times and supported by Forfas.
The company, based in Cashel, Co Tipperary, also won the small company award for a method of testing beef carcasses which involves the detection of the protein responsible for the disease.
The method is quicker and cheaper than current testing methods and enables widespread accurate screening. Enfer Scientific's system is already in operation and is used to certify the safety of meat sold in SuperValu's chain of stores, among others.
The company was founded in 1991 and currently employs 21 people. It is run by Mr Louis Ronan and Mr Michael O'Connor and has offices in Newbridge, Co Kildare and Dublin.
Dr Paddy Galvin, former chief executive of Waterford Crystal and chairman of the judging panel, said the result of Enfer Scientific's new test methodology is that cost and time problems associated with BSE detection methods have been solved.
Two companies received highly commended awards: Dublin-based Silicon and Software Systems for its development project that eliminates the need for hard cables between electronic devices making them more portable; and Statistical Solutions from Cork for a method of imputing incomplete datasets.
Dublin company Bioresearch Ireland won the science and technological award for its method of assessing fertility in women by using saliva, instead of blood. This allows testing to be done without medical supervision, enabling samples to be posted to the laboratory without patients needing to attend a clinic.
There were two winners in the large company section. The first was Raidtec, based in Cork, which has developed a revolutionary system of computer storage, sub-systems and controllers based on fibre channels. The second went to Baltimore Technologies for developing and successfully launching a security product for on-line financial transactions. The company's technology was used last week in the digital signing of a communique on e-commerce by President Clinton and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Noel Treacy, said the most gratifying aspect of the awards was that the six finalists were all Irish companies. "They are all relatively small companies, but, in spite of those circumstances and from largely within their own resources, they have come up with innovative products which are unique in global terms."
The awards are part of the Government's Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Awareness Programme.
