Dr Bill Venter, founder and chairman of the Altron Group, has been named as this year’s recipient of the international Picmet Leadership in Technology Management Award, by the executive committee of Picmet.
The award was presented to Dr Venter at the annual banquet and conference of Picmet on 29 July in the Old Harbour Ballroom in Cape Town by the president and CEO of Picmet, professor Dundar Kocaoglu.
Picmet (Portland International Centre for Management of Engineering and Technology under the auspices of Portland State University) was established in 1989 to facilitate the generation and dissemination of knowledge in technology management worldwide. The first Picmet conference was held in Portland, Oregon (USA) in 1991 and since then it has been held annually, one year in Portland and one year in an overseas location - this year being Cape Town's turn.
Previous winners of the award include heavyweights such as Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel; Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric; Jong-Yong Yun, CEO of Samsung Electronics in Korea; Donna Shirley, former manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Programme; Norman Augustine, CEO of Lockheed; Carleton S Florina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; and Gunnar Hambraeus, chairman of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.
Commenting on the importance of the award internationally, Professor Kocaoglu said, "This prestigious award recognises and honours individuals world-wide who have provided leadership in managing technology by establishing a vision, providing a strategic direction and facilitating the implementation strategies for that vision. The award presented to Dr Venter is in our worldwide 'Leadership in Industry' category and acknowledges the excellence which Dr Venter has provided as an industry executive and an entrepreneur in South Africa's high tech industry for the past 43 years."
Dr Venter has been recognised by no fewer than seven universities, both locally and abroad, with honorary doctorates for his contribution to technology, commerce and industry during past years and in 2006, he received the Lifetime Achievers Award from the Sunday Times.
Dr Venter also graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a D Phil (Business Management) degree in 2006, having previously obtained an MBA and an MPhil (cum laude) in Business Management.
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