Two Manchester entrepreneurs honored by High Tech Council

Sign Up For Our FREE Daily eNews!

EOY Slider3


MANCHESTER, NH – With a fun and festive theme of gaming, the New Hampshire High Tech Council (NHHTC) held its 13th annual Entrepreneur of the Year recognition Wednesday night in Nashua, giving awards to two Manchester entrepreneurs while high school robotics teams eagerly demonstrated their devices in the lobby.Phoenix Robotics team


Founder of Ms. Pac-Man gave keynote speech

Steve Golson EOY speaker webThe keynote speaker was Steve Golson, a video game pioneer and one of the inventors of Ms. Pac-Man, which is widely considered to be one of the most popular arcade video games in U.S. history.

Golson described the development of gaming, from its humble beginnings in an MIT dining room to its current status as a technology giant that has given rise to home games, multiplayer eSports, and utilization in biomed, construction, military training, education, and many other industries.  Numerous colleges now offer education in video game design and development.

mspacman


From 1981 through 1955, Golson worked for General Computer of Cambridge (GCC) designing video games. Alumni of GCC have gone on to leadership in over 125 tech companies.

esports


Golson completed the hardware design for GCC’s arcade enhancement kits Super Missle Attach and Crazy Otto (which eventually became Midway’s Ms. Pac-Man). He also worked on the graphics chip for the Atari 7800 Pro-System home console and contributed to various other arcade game projects at GCC including Atari’s Food Fight.

“Father of video games” and Holocaust refugee wins posthumous award for lifetime achievement

A Lifetime Achievement award for Ralph Baer (now deceased), the “father of videogames” was given to his son, Mark W. Baer.

Ralph Baer in lab web
Baer

Ralph Henry Baer (born Rudolf Heinrich Baer) was a German-born American inventor, game developer, and engineer. Considered to be “the Father of Video Games,” Baer received the National Medal of Technology in 2006 for “his groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development, and commercialization of interactive video games, which spawned related uses, applications, and mega-industries in both the entertainment and education realms.”

After fleeing Germany with his family in 1938, Baer became a naturalized citizen before joining the U.S. Army to specialize in military intelligence and small arms weaponry during World War II. They settled in Manchester, which provided a safe environment to flourish.

The war sparked Baer’s interest in electronics, and he earned a degree in television engineering – launching what would become a 60 year career in video game technology. After Joining Sanders Associates in Nashua (now BAE Systems) in the mid 1950’s, he and two other engineers – Bill Harrison and Bill Rausch – developed what would become the first home game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, which hit the commercial market in 1972. Baer is credited with developing the idea of playing games on a television screen around 1966.

magnavox odyssey


The Magnavox Odyssey launched the modern video game industry, establishing virtual technology for defense, entertainment, education, and countless other applications. Baer held more than 150 patents, including hardware prototypes, consoles, and consumer games such as the electronic pattern-matching game Simon.

Baer lived in Manchester for more than 60 years and continued inventing until his death in 2014. His vision and entrepreneurial mindset inspired countless people around the world.

Mark Baer  is working with the Hitchcock family and John Clayton of the  Manchester Historic Association to build a commemorative square in the Riverwalk. It will reside on the edge of Arms Park on the Merrimack River and feature a bench and seated bronze statue of the late Ralph Baer rendered through innovative 3D-modeling techniques.  Donations to Baer Bench Memorial Square are welcome. It will be unveiled in August.

Ralph V2

Business founder in bionics and prosthetics wins Entrepreneur of the Year

The Entrepreneur of the Year was given to Matt Albuquerque, founder and president of Next Step Bionics & Prosthetics, Inc.


Matt Albuquerque specialized in pediatric orthotic and prosthetic care, and his passion for helping others led him to round Next Step. He was integral to the development of advanced upper-extremity technologies and worked as a prosthetic consultant for Dean Kamen on the LUKE Arm project with DEKA Research & Development Corp.

Under Albuquerque’s leadership, Next Step has become a clinical beta testing site. He is a member of the American Board for Certification in Prosthetics, American Board for Certification in Orthotics, and the American Academy of Orthotics and Prosthetics. He is also a graduate of Leadership Greater Manchester.

Next Step Bionics & Prosthetics, with offices in Manchester, Newton, MA, and Warwick, RI, was founded in 1996 and provides bionic and prosthetic devices to amputee patients of all ages from all over the world. Using the best and most appropriate technologies available and caring for more than just the physical challenges that amputees face, Next Step is dedicated to helping individuals receive quality prosthetic are. Understanding the whole person, physically and emotionally, is at the heart of Next Step’s purpose and plans.

About this Author