Global technology distributor, Avnet, has become title sponsor of The Not Impossible Awards, which recognises technological innovation that improves the well-being of others.

The Not Impossible Award winners will have their work recognized and showcased during CES 2018 in Las Vegas. Additionally, recipients selected to be part of the Class of 2018 will receive world-class mentorship from the Not Impossible Advisory Council, comprised of industry leaders and experts, including Avnet’s Kevin Sellers, chief marketing officer, and Jim Fusaro, senior vice president, design services and solutions development. Award recipients also receive opportunities to incubate and accelerate their work through participation in strategic partnerships with members of the Not Impossible network.

The Not Impossible Award winners will be able to take advantage of Avnet’s expertise on the requirements of getting their products to market depending on which stage of the development cycle they are in. After an initial consultation and assessment with each honoree, Avnet will provide insights on how to tackle such challenges as technology sourcing, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics. Avnet has more than 2,500 engineers and nearly a million engineering community members who are part of the vast additional resources available to help innovators turn their ideas into a product through education, collaboration and high-quality design and supply-chain services.

“The Not Impossible Awards exemplify Avnet’s mission to ‘reach further’ and take new and innovative technologies from idea to design to production,” said Avnet’s Kevin Sellers. “Our sponsorship of the Not Impossible Awards underscores Avnet’s commitment to assisting companies around the world realise technology’s potential. Through the Avnet ecosystem, we’ll help guide these exciting projects to market and help further Not Impossible Labs’ mission to create technology for the sake of humanity.”

The recipient of The Not Impossible Connectivity Award is Digital Cognition Technologies (DCT) with its DCTclock. This analyses behaviour signals that have to date remained hidden to traditional testing methods for detecting cognitive impairment from Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson’s. An inspired husband and wife team out of MIT created DCTclock, a diagnostic tool that leverages data and technology to transform the familiar Clock Drawing Test into a precise measure of cognitive function that can lead to early detection, better care and increased quality of life.

Other award winners include:

For 2018, The Not Impossible Awards recipients are:

• ANDE – The Not Impossible Commitment Award for its dedication to evolving tools to progress public safety

• BecDot – The Not Impossible Limitless Award for its ability to break through barriers
• OffGridBox – The Not Impossible Ignition Award for its commitment to accessible energy
• VR-Project Δ (Delta) and VR-Qualis Est Vita – The Not Impossible Vitality Award for their innovation in healthcare

Founded on the principle of Technology for the Sake of Humanity, since 2008, Not Impossible Labs has engineered, programmed, hacked and crowd-solved issues of inability, inaccessibility and provided low-cost solutions for the most vulnerable.

The Not Impossible Awards Show will take place on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018 in the Zappos Theatre at Zappos Headquarters in downtown Las Vegas.

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