Since 2008, Cox Business has lauded the incredible information technology innovators in the San Diego. The Top Tech Awards pay homage to the wealth of talent in our local community who have vision, take risks, and implement new cutting-edge technologies, all in the name of making their organizations more connected, more productive, and more successful.
Below are the winners for every year since 2008.
2008
Marco Thompson, Biocom – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Gary Wang, Spawar Systems Center
Glenn Umetsu, Leap Wireless International
John Cloyd, Vistage International
John Mukusick, Geary Interactive
David Delacalzada, North County Credit Union
Eileen Heveron, National University
Steve Romeo, Breg Inc
Tom Fisher, DriveCam Inc
Denny Morgan, Remec Defense
Chris Baker, San Diego Gas & Electric
Bruce Carothers, AMN Healthcare
Stephen Coggeshall, ID Analytics
2009
Elliott Allen, SAIC – Cox Business Exemplary Award
Edward Babakanian, UC San Diego Medical Center
Rich Coppa, The Arc of San Diego
Dana Di Ferdinando, Arena Pharmaceuticals
Gerald Ellison, ESET
Norm Fjeldheim, Qualcomm Inc. – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
David Gray, OnlineGURU Inc.
Jim Haskin, Websense Inc.
John Merritt, YMCA of San Diego County
Erik Quade, Technology Integration Group
Paul Redfield, Bay City Television
Celeste Schwartz, Superior Court of California, County of San Diego
Christopher Wessells, University of San Diego
2010
Heather Moshier, San Diego County Credit Union
Robert Gravina, Poway Unified School District
Captain Mark Kohlheim, SSC Pacific
George Beha, San Ysidro Health Center
Jeremy Crawford, Sandicor, Inc.
Richard Sears, American Internet Services
Kevin Harris, ICW Group Insurance Companies
Mark Zecca, Ph.D., Mitchell 1
Debra Jensen, Jack in the Box Inc.
Ronald Broersma, SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Angela Miller, North County Transit District – Cox Business Exemplary Award
2011
Dave Baker, Websense, Inc.
Steve Beal, Covario
James Cooper, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Gary Devan, Mission Federal Credit Union
Kelly Gunning, BAE Systems
Darryl LaGace, San Diego Unified School District
Eric Logie, Alvarado Hospital
John Merritt, YMCA of San Diego County
Tad Reynales, UCSD, Calit2
William Spooner, Sharp HealthCare – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
W. Harold Tuck, MBA MPH, County of San Diego
2012
Richard Coppa, The Arc of San Diego
Emily Deere, University of California, San Diego
Samer Tominna, Commander, Navy Region Southwest
Heather Moshier, San Diego County Credit Union
Gregory Magaril, Ceatus Media Group
Ram Patrachari, Viejas Enterprises
Christopher Staszak, Semantic Research, Inc.
Chuck Phillips, Digitaria
Mark Zecca, Nuvasive
Brian K. Baker, Qualcomm – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Jessie Daly, Isis Pharmaceuticals – Cox Business Exemplary Award
Scott Gnau, Teradata Corporation
Charlotte Klock, University of California, San Diego
2013
Marty Larkin, San Diego Humane Society
Paul Peabody, Palomar Health
Steve Clemons, San Diego County Office of Education
Tom Kennedy, Olivenhain Water District
Art Kahn, American Specialty Health
Casey Cotton, Asset Marketing Systems
Kurt Cumming, Global Village Concerns
Steve Phillpott, Amylin Pharmaceuticals
Gary Holden, Vical
Guillermo Perez, U-T San Diego – Cox Business Exemplary Award
Anwar Abbas, North County Health Services – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
2014
Nimer Saikaly, Episcopal Community Services
Robert Burgett, The Elizabeth Hospice
Robert Jensen, San Diego Christian College
Noel “Chuck” Stevens, United States Marine Corps – Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Christopher Petersen, Assay Depot, Inc.
Jason Janofsky, Superior Mobile Medics, Inc.
Andrew Blocksidge, Jazzercise
Abe Esguerra, DUDEK
John Ruiz, Karl Strauss Brewing Company
Doug Cyphers, Welk Resorts
Terry Dembitz, Amylin Pharmaceuticals
2015
Joe Gursky, USS Midway Museum
Sal Saldivar, La Maestra Community Health Centers
Nathan Seaman, Navy Medical Center
Frank Paredes, San Ysidro School District
Robert Swisher, Business.com
Tal Almog, MaintenanceNet, Inc.
Brian Kelley, Tarr Inc.
Terry Orletsky, The Ken Blanchard Companies
Abe Lietz, Jenny Craig and Curves International
David Henderson, Sequenom, Inc.
Jeanette Sanchez, AMN Healthcare
Mike Zill, Global Shared Services Becton Dickinson – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Prudence August, Palomar Health – Cox Business Exemplary Award
2016
Mark Caldwell, Apmetrix Inc.
Marc Romano, Seismic Software Inc.
Peter Hissong, Teamwork Athletic Apparel
Brian Alexander, ARS National Services Inc.
Brian Andrews, Stone Brewing Company
Kenneth Lanewood, Pfenex, Inc.
Philippe Marchand, Gemoptix (Now with Samumed, LLC)
Gary Nimtz, San Diego Futures Foundation
Andres Gutierrez, Family Health Centers of San Diego
David Delacalzada, Encinitas School District
Brian Croom, Padre Dam Municipal Water District
Steve Hart, ViaSat Inc. – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Linda Scott, Guild Mortgage Company – Cox Business Exemplary Award
2017
Christopher Longhurst, UC San Diego
Matthew Brown, San Diego County Water Authority
Peter Battistel, 2-1-1 San Diego
John Hall, Gemological Institute of America, Inc.
David Gray, DMV.org
Brian Casazza, Vistage International
Bob Millington, CUSO Financial Services, LP
Tim Bochard, Glacier Water (A division of Primo Water Corp.)
Bill Zondler, Millennium Health
Joseph Talarek, Turtle Beach
Julie Hubbard, AMN Healthcare
Douglas Palmer, KnuEdge, Inc. – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Laura Spencer, Lakeside Union School District – Cox Business Exemplary Award
2018
Terry Loftus, Oceanside Unified School District
Jonathan Behnke, City of San Diego
Angela Moran, California Coast Credit Union
Alicia Rodriguez, San Ysidro Health
Ryan Rusnak, Airspace Technologies Inc.
Ryan Fay, ACI Specialty Benefits
Jerome Fodor, AbacusNext
Brad Williams, Petco Animal Supplies Inc.
Michael Hawman, General Atomics
Hudson Airom, Mitek Systems Inc
Troy Seelye, Teradata Corporation
Johnson Lai, Nuvasive Inc. – Cox Business Exemplary Award
Casey Cotton, Madison Avenue Securities LLC – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
2019
Travis Fawcett, AristaMD
Keith Fernandez, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Nathan Short, Encinitas Union School District
Mark Sulzen, SmartDraw, Inc.
Alexandra Gerritsen, Cali Bamboo
Brian Nordmann, Dudek
Geoff Howard, National Funding
Matthew Mower, Point Loma Credit Union
Narayanadas Vakamudi, Family Health Centers of San Diego
Mark Kohlheim, CACI
Frederick F. del Rosario, Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Mark Zecca, Ph. D, San Diego County Office of Education – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Christopher Petersen, Scientist.com – Cox Business Exemplary Award
2020
Stephanie Casperson, San Marcos Unified School District
Scott Daeschner, City of San Diego
Rich Coppa, The Arc of San Diego – Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Jeffrey Hamilton, Mental Health Systems
Ram Patrachari, Viejas Hotel and Casino
Michael Singer, Veyo
Brook Benson, Balboa United
Anthony Zoblescin, Pacific Debt
Jerrry Creekbaum, Expedition Communications
Amy Deford, WD-40 Company
Feliks Dushatsky, Dushatsky ImprimisRx
Larry Heminger, MemComputing, Inc.
Jake Fields, Platform Science
2021
David Graham, City of Carlsbad
Albert Oriol, Rady Children’s Hospital
Ardy Arianpour, SEQSTER
Nicole May, UC San Diego Health Information Services
Eric Haller, Experian North America
Chad Sweet, ModalAI – Future of Tech Award
David Dambman, Biosero, Inc.
Ben Nathan, Cortica
Dave Henderson, Millennium Health – Top Tech Exec of the Year
Jerome Fodor, TOOTRiS – Top Tech Disruption Award
Zeb Evans, Click Up – Cox Business Exemplary Award
2022
Joe McNertney, The Arc of San Diego
Joel Abitan, Verse Inc.
Ray Chan, San Diego Padres – Cox Business Exemplary Award
Sanjiv Prabhakaran, Bytes Inc. – Future of Tech Award
Ken Wall, Poway Unified School District
Matt Putman, H.G. Fenton Company
Nathan Chavez, Alarms Unlimited Professional Security Solutions
William Moses, ResMed – Top Tech Exec of the Year
Julie Westcott, NuVasive Inc.
Sara Diaz, City of El Cajon
Larry Coval, Cox Business – Founders Award
2023
Prerna Mayor, NuVasive
Maria Callander, City of Carlsbad
Ryan Kari, MagCanica – Future of Tech
David Penalva, HelioVolta
Lance Onken, Measurabl
DeWayne Cossey, Vista Unified School District
Colton Barlow, Viejas Casino
Rob Honma, Santa Fe Christian Schools
Rob Kaufman, Scientist.com Healthcare
John Rolando, Spectral Labs Incorporated
Nimer Saikaly, Ciprus Consulting – Top Tech of the Year Award
Shawn Granen, USS MIDWAY – Cox Business Exemplary Award