The R&D Council’s 2024 Edison Patent Awards included the presentation of the inaugural Catalyst Award to Judith Sheft for her contributions to the evolving New Jersey Innovation Ecosystem over the past 25 years.
The R&D Council’s 45th Annual Awards Ceremony shines a spotlight on New Jersey’s legacy of scientific advancement. On November 21st approximately 300 guests attended the 2024 Edison Patent Awards Ceremony to honor 67 trailblazers in innovation, as well as individual award winners.
Judith Sheft, Executive Director at the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, was the recipient of the inaugural Catalyst Award in recognition of her support of the New Jersey Innovation Ecosystem highlighted in a special video.
Sheft’s contributions to the New Jersey’s innovation economy began years before the ceremony when she began her tenure at NJIT as Associate Vice President Technology, then moving on to be Associate Vice President of Strategic Relationship and External Affairs.
Over her eighteen-plus years at NJIT Sheft supported and collaborated with numerous entrepreneurial and technology-focused organizations around New Jersey. Whether on an organization’s board or offering connections to individuals as panelists and judges, Sheft’s energy and spirit were relied upon by many event organizers who were working to grow New Jersey’s emerging innovation ecosystem.
In 2020 she joined the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, overseeing the distribution of over $27 million in awards and assisting companies in the leveraging of CSIT funding.
The Award announcement summed up the important role Sheft has had in supporting entrepreneurs and innovators in New Jersey, stating “Judith strengthens the state’s innovation economy by stimulating academic-industrial collaboration, and encourages and supports entrepreneurs and inventors”.
The Edison Patent Awards, as the highest recognition of innovation in the state, celebrated 14 patents created by 62 inventors and five individual award winners. With the theme “Jersey Innovates, the World Takes,” the Edison Patent Award Ceremony and Reception was held for the first time at Bell Works in Holmdel, New Jersey.
