SVTC Debuts TechNite Reboot

Shenandoah Valley Technology Council’s TechNite 2024 (The Reboot) was held in May 2024 and brought together entrepreneurs, educators and innovators from across the region. The first TechNite event held since the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was a rebranding of sorts with new executive director, Leigh Evans at the helm. She said, “It’s really inspiring and incredible to be a part of something like this. SVTC has been a part of the community for 27 years, and it’s time to make that known outside of this room.”

A cornerstone of TechNite has always been the honoring of Tech Trailblazers in the community and this year’s event carried on that tradition. Three awards – Innovation in Community Impact, Innovation in Education and the Dr. John Noftsinger Leadership Award – were given to individuals making a difference in the Valley’s tech community. 

Innovation in Community Impact Award Winner: Bartek Drewnowski – Detia Degesh Group

This award recognizes those leveraging technology to address social or environmental challenges in local communities.

The revolutionary patent pending Dega-Tech® merges decades of fumigation experience and the latest technological marvels. The unit is designed to be placed in a fumigated environment to remotely send phosphine fumigant concentrations to an IoT platform for record keeping and nearly real time fumigation performance monitoring. Phosphine is the most widely used fumigant protecting the world’s agricultural commodities from damage and devaluation. Proper fumigant concentrations are critical in the control of all life stages of stored product pests and the Dega-Tech® monitor plays an increasingly important role.

Innovation in Education: Andrei Dacko @ Juice Works 3D | Innovation Academy

This award recognizes outstanding educators or programs driving innovation in technology within the educational system, while inspiring students to pursue STEAM fields.

Juice Works 3D was conceived by founder Andrei Dacko after winning a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams STEM product-design grant with a group of his former high school students in 2009. This ignited Andrei’s desire to make design-based learning, through 3D digital making, accessible to kids everywhere and, in so doing, unleash their creative and inventive capacity (aka “Juice”) in ways that they, and the communities they live in, never dreamed of.

Dr. John Noftsinger Leadership Award: Lorena Rodriguez, IT System Analyst @ InterChange Group

This award recognizes an individual who’s demonstrated leadership has served as a catalyst for positive technology-related activity in the Area.

Lorena’s journey is one of courage and resilience. Fleeing her homeland of Colombia with her young daughter, Natalia, due to violence and injustice, she sought peace and safety elsewhere. Despite facing numerous challenges, Lorena has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities and commitment to personal and professional growth.

With a robust background in technology, including a BS in Systems Engineering and over twenty years of experience in the tech industry, Lorena has made significant contributions to her field. Her expertise in supporting integrations and reporting for multiple warehouse management systems has earned her respect among her peers, and she is always willing to help fellow team members.

Learn more about TechNite, the award winners and nominees at at svtc-va.org/technite