If it's not broken ...

• Author: Francom, Sarah Ryther
• Position: From the Editor

Utah has a long and storied legacy of innovation, forged by industry leaders such as Alan Ashton and Bruce Bastian, co-founders of WordPerfect; Ray Noorda, co-founder of Novell; and Edwin Catmull, president of Pixar Animation Studios. Today that legacy continues, with companies like Skullcandy, Mozy and Mindshare developing pioneering tools and processes.

Utah's innovative and entrepreneurial spirit remains strong despite the economic slowdown, as evidenced by the state's many accolades and accomplishments. For example, the University of Utah launched more startup companies based on faculty research than any other university in the country, even beating the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Utah's record of entrepreneurialism is further solidified by the number of patents filed each year; according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Utah consistently ranks as one of the top patent-producing states per capita.

In this issue of Utah Business, we showcase the latest and greatest homegrown inventions in our coverage of the 2011 Utah Innovation Awards. This annual awards program, which is presented by Stoel Rives and the Utah Technology Council, celebrates the state's top innovations in categories ranging from biotechnology to clean energy to consumer software, among others. Each award finalist and their innovations are another testament of the state's robust inventive community. Read about their groundbreaking creations beginning on page 48.

While it's exciting to see so many innovations coming out of the Beehive State, it's also a time to reflect on how everyday companies can remain innovative and, therefore, competitive. When times get tough, many companies put innovation on the back burner. Why take a risk when your product or service is working just fine, right? Companies...