Recipients of 2022 Connecticut Medal of Technology Announced

Craig M. Crews, the John C. Malone Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Management at Yale University, and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) have been selected as the 2022 recipients of the Connecticut Medal of Technology.

The awardees will accept their medals at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, to be held virtually on May 26, 2022.

Craig Crews is awarded for pioneering research that launched the pharmaceutical field of Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD). TPD is hailed as a new paradigm for drug development and will almost certainly lead to novel therapeutics. Described as an exceptionally creative scientist, with an eagerness to ask piercing, mechanism-based questions, and a commitment to evidence-based, first-rate, definitive science, he has had a profound translational impact in drug development.

Combining his groundbreaking science with an entrepreneurial spirit, Crews and his colleague Raymond Deshaies co-founded Proteolix in 2003. Proteolix developed a therapeutic treatment approved by the FDA in 2012 for relapsed multiple myeloma. Drug development is a slow and arduous process, and few technological advances are truly transformative in the field. However, for Crews, this was just one step in his journey.

Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) is awarded the Connecticut Medal of Technology for its leadership of regional and national partnerships that assist the industrial base with the advancement of applied technologies and workforce initiatives to strengthen the global competitiveness of the manufacturing ecosystem in Connecticut.

CCAT, a non-profit incorporated in 2004, is a dynamic and innovative applied technology organization. An invaluable resource to the State, CCAT leads the promotion, demonstration, and adoption of applied technologies, particularly in the areas of model-based engineering, Industry 4.0 and digital technologies, additive manufacturing, advanced composites, and renewable energy. CCAT’s industry-led approach and delivery of transformative solutions enables manufacturing and technology companies to improve the critical KPIs required to remain a profitable industry leader.

“Dr. Crews and CCAT are proof yet again of our state’s incredible science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medical talent and resources,” said Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. “The awarding of these medals is a positive and gratifying reminder that even though our state is small demographically and geographically, we are a significant force as a global technology leader propelled by our research community, companies, skilled workforce, and a laser focus on accelerating long-lasting and equitable economic development in Connecticut.”

The Connecticut Medal of Technology is awarded to individuals, teams, and companies/non-profits or divisions of companies/non-profits for their outstanding contributions to the economic, environmental, and social well-being of Connecticut and the nation through the promotion of technology, technological innovation, or the development of the technological workforce.

By highlighting the importance of technological innovation, the Medal also seeks to inspire future generations to prepare for and pursue technical careers to keep Connecticut and the nation at the forefront of global technology and economic leadership.

Modeled after the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, this award is bestowed by the state of Connecticut by direction of the Office of the Governor, with the assistance of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, in alternate years with the Connecticut Medal of Science.

The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering was chartered by the General Assembly in 1976 to provide expert guidance on science and technology to the people and to the state of Connecticut, and to promote the application of science and technology to human welfare and economic well-being.

CCAT’s leadership in creating and administrating programs on the State and federal level has been a major multiplier for the Connecticut economy. Examples include: leveraging stimulus capital through matching grant voucher programs provided by the Manufacturing Innovation Fund; accelerating digital transformation through the Connecticut Defense Manufacturing Community Consortium’s Digital Model Initiative program; upskilling the manufacturing workforce and identifying the next generation of talent from underserved communities which have been supported by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Deloitte Foundation and other private entities.

“On behalf of the entire state, I want to thank Professor Crews and Ron Angelo and his team at CCAT for helping to make Connecticut the great state we know it is — and congratulate them both on receiving Connecticut’s highest honor for technological achievement,” Gov. Lamont added.

For more information about CASE, visit www.ctcase.org.