Author: Ken Moore

Los Angeles (PRWEB) January 14, 2020

Annual IoT Breakthrough Awards Program Recognizes Standout Internet-of-Things Companies and Products.

IoT Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Internet-of-Things (IoT) market, today announced that Spark Connected, a leading technology developer of advanced and innovative wireless power system solutions, has been selected as the winner of the “Wireless Technology Innovation Award” in the 4th annual IoT Breakthrough Awards program.

Spark Connected is a global leader in developing advanced, innovative and safe wireless power technologies and solutions that benefit a wide variety of applications in the Automotive, Industrial, Medical, Robotics, Security, Factory Automation, IoT, Smart Home, Consumer and Telecom markets.

The 2020 IoT Breakthrough Awards program is recognizing Spark Connected for their development of an industry first 30-Watt wireless power solution, The Gorgon, engineered for Telecom Infrastructure and IoT Security applications. The Gorgon wireless power solution consists of both a transmitter and companion receiver. The solution integrates into in-building mmWave 5G products and eliminates the need to wire external antenna or FWA links, aiming to reduce overall deployment costs for network operators and simplifying installation.

The mission of the IoT Breakthrough Awards program is to recognize the innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the globe in a range of IoT categories, including Industrial and Enterprise IoT, Smart City technology, Connected Home and Home Automation, Connected Car, and many more. This year’s program attracted more than 3,700 nominations from companies all over the world.

“With the dawn of 5G upon us, The Gorgon platform represents a significant step forward in making wireless power a commercial reality in 5G networks,“ said James Johnson, managing director at IoT Breakthrough. “5G is one of the most significant wireless developments impacting the telecom and IoT industry, and Spark Connected is marching forward understanding that the 5G future is now. Wireless technology is a wide arena and we congratulate Spark Connected and the Gorgon platform for “breaking through” the industry with their significant achievement in the IoT space.”

“We are committed to making the promises of 5G technology a reality, and we are confident that our Gorgon solution will deliver “breakthrough” results for our Telecom Infrastructure and IoT customers,” said Ken Moore, Chief Executive Officer, Spark Connected. “The Gorgon unlocks true value for mobile users in Fixed Wireless Access for commercial and residential CPE. The applications for The Gorgon are nearly endless and include not only 5G CPE, but security cameras, smart and connected home and factory automation to name a few. We are extremely proud to be recognized by IoT Breakthrough and consider this a strong validation of our innovative drive at Spark Connected.”

The Gorgon wireless power platform can transmit 30 Watts of power wirelessly and can be integrated in 5G telecom fixed wireless access nodes. The Gorgon transmitter continuously provides power from the inside of the home to the receiver 5G antenna on the outside of the window in the home.

The Gorgon platform is also being integrated in outdoor security cameras. The cameras can be attached to the outside of the window along with The Gorgon wireless power receiver, and the main power unit is attached to the window inside the home along with The Gorgon wireless power transmitter. This results in a simple installation where the inside and outside units are attached without the need to breach the weatherproof barrier by drilling through walls.

About IoT Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the IoT Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Internet-of-Things technologies, services, companies and products. The IoT Breakthrough Awards program provides a forum for public recognition around the achievements of IoT companies and products in categories including Connected Home and Home Automation, Connected Car, Industrial IoT (IIoT) and Smart City, Consumer IoT and more. For more information visit IoTBreakthrough.com.

By Rob Schneider – Managing Editor – Events, Dallas Business Journal

Ken Moore of Spark Connected is a finalist in the Technology Inventor Award category for the 2019 Tech Titan awards. Category winners will be announced at an awards event on Friday, Aug. 23. For more information about the awards event, click here.

As CEO of Spark Connected Ken Moore is working on developing disruptive wireless power technology that can be used for a host of technology from automotive to consumer to medical to Internet of Things applications.
“My role is to ensure Spark is in a position to bring about our vision of replacing power cables with wireless power,” Moore said.

Moore worked for many years at Texas Instruments at first designing talking toys and eventually moving to integrated circuits for hard disk drives, then wireless phones and other telecom equipment. He followed by working in Dallas in product development and then into business roles. He left TI in 2011 and joined the startup world. In 2017, he formed Spark Connected.

Moore answered other questions from the Business Journal about technology.

What is the biggest challenge facing your organization in 2019? How do you plan to succeed?

Our biggest challenge is scaling the organization. We have had very good success in the market, and customers are excited about what we are doing…. however, that means we have more opportunities to support, and more solutions to develop. The management team and I are raising capital now to expand the team and our facilities in order to address the increased demand.

Who is your technology hero?

While at TI, I had the chance to meet the great Jack Kilby (inventor of the integrated circuit.) I was never big on hero worship growing up, but it really affected me when I found out I was going to meet (him.) Here was the person who was responsible for our entire industry; the reason so many of us had (and continue) to study electrical and computer engineering. And he was such a kind, unassuming person. You could tell, even after the Nobel Prize and the fame, he was still an engineer like me at heart. It was an amazing experience.

What is something people aren’t thinking about that will change technology in the next few years?

The world is filled with companies that work with data. … But there are not nearly as many companies that are looking at the power needed to do all these things. Lots of sensors are very useful, but they still need power to run. How do we power all these smart things we carry around or are present in the world around us, and do it in a way that is safe and efficient? There are ideas, but there are also big hurdles. We have much more work to do before power is available everywhere cellular data is available. Once we achieve that goal, a whole new world of applications opens up that just aren’t possible today.

Can you recall the moment you decided what you wanted to do professionally?

I had always been interested in taking things apart. Alarm clocks, radios…whatever I could get my hands on. Then in the mid 1970s, my father brought me to “bring your sons/daughters to work day”, and sat me down in front of a very early computer terminal. He ran a program and the computer asked me my name. When I typed in my name, it responded “Hello Ken, my name is PDP. Would you like to play a game with me?” I was completely fascinated. After that, it was all about technology, and that feeling still remains the same today.

What should we be teaching children about technology in school right now that we aren’t?

That everything in this world, especially the business world, is about human interaction. … And our technology and business leaders of tomorrow will still need to know how to interact directly with other people, face-to-face, in order to be successful.