The team at OTT HydroMet is excited to announce that our Class A irradiance sensor, the Kipp & Zonen SMP12 won an Innovation Award at the inaugural Veralto Innovation Conference (VIC).
Held in Waltham, Massachusetts at Veralto headquarters, over 80 engineering and product management leaders came together for three days of discussions and knowledge exchange focused on “Powering Growth Through Innovation.”
Attendees, all from various operating companies under Veralto, gathered to discuss best practices and insights surrounding the product innovation cycle. From ideation to commercialization, the conference served to motivate, further educate, and optimize how we serve customer and industry needs through product innovation and ingenuity.
The Veralto Innovation Awards
The debut of the Veralto Innovation Awards (VIA) also took place during the VIC in June.
The awards, recognizing recently launched products or services exemplifying ingenuity for customer success, had 10 product nominations across Veralto, which were then further assessed by a preset committee and criteria.
Ultimately, OTT HydroMet along with four other companies were selected by the VIA committee and presented with a 2024 Veralto Innovation Award.
VIAs: Award Criteria
Each submission and nomination for a VIA was judged based on the following four criteria:
- Product or Solution Novelty and Differentiation
- Voice of Customer and Market Added Value
- Innovation Cycle Process Excellence and Speed
- Commercial Success
OTT HydroMet Awarded Bronze
During the conference, the Solar Team at OTT HydroMet was presented with a bronze Veralto Innovation Award for the Kipp & Zonen SMP12.
“The SMP12 stood out for submission to this Innovation Award because of its current commercial success and how its features reflect technical innovation,” notes in-house scientist Marc Korevaar, who was present at the conference and for the awards.
Korevaar, who accepted the bronze plaque on behalf of the team added, “it was an honor to represent and accept the prize on behalf of our team…I hope this motivates us but also shows that what we are doing is being noticed …and when the award plaque arrives it will be something we can be proud of.”
Other winners of the inaugural VIA’s included Pantone for their web and mobile app Pantone Connect, VideoJet for their 1580C Continuous Inkjet Printer, Linx for their 8000 Series Spectrum CIJ printer, and Esko for their cloud-based software Cape Pack.
“Competing along with these other OpCo’s…they are huge, way bigger than us…how can we possibly compare to them? I was surprised we won…but our product is very innovative so it’s nice to feel that we are at the same level as these other OpCo’s, but this also reflects the standard of work we put into our products and solutions.”
The Innovation Behind the SMP12
Alongside product innovation, the awards committee also highlighted the SMP12 for its market intelligence based on the pain points the instruments design and features solve for current customers.
Developed in response to customer feedback and industry measurement gaps, the SMP12 is designed with key features that solve a range of issues for customers.
According to Korevaar, the innovation and customer problems that SMP12 solves is two-fold.
“We’ve added heating to the sensor solving a customer problem for dew or frost. But we also designed this in a way to enable the sensor to continue measuring while being heated, thanks to its diffuser-based technology.”
Built using solid state technology, the manufacturing behind the SMP12 focuses on reliability and longevity. Additionally, its smaller detector and tailored firmware, allows the SMP12 to react quicker than most smart pyranometers on the market.
To learn more about the Kipp & Zonen SMP12 be sure to read Questions & Answers: Discovering the New SMP12 Class A Pyranometer.
Conclusion
For Korevaar, the SMP12 reflects the innovation the Solar Team strives for on a daily basis.
“Innovation is coming up with new technical solutions for current customer problems and that are a large step forward in our portfolio…out of the SMP12 there came three patents, so we don’t only innovate…we protect our IP as well. Overall, I never doubted the innovation of our SMP12 but to be recognized alongside these other brands was really nice.”
When looking at what product innovation comes next for the Solar Team, Korevaar could only share that more is to come.
“We are happy to be recognized for this innovation, but our hope is to keep innovating for all the different applications in our portfolio and for new customer needs.”
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