Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM), an online resource for hearing professionals and consumers with hearing loss, has announced a call for submissions for the second annual Hearing Technology Innovator Awards™.
The Hearing Technology Innovator Awards is an international awards program designed to recognize and celebrate innovation within the hearing industry. This year, part of the proceeds from the program will benefit Hearing Health Foundation (HHF)’s groundbreaking hearing and balance research.
Through the annual awards program, HHTM honors technological innovation and achievement in the hearing industry.
This year’s awards will be conferred in seven categories:
Hearing Aids
Personal Listening Devices
Assistive Technology and Software
Service Delivery
Equipment
Auditory Implants
Therapeutics
Voting and Awards
Following closure of the submission period, nominees will be put up for a public vote in September. Voting will be open for a 2-week period and submissions receiving the most votes within each subcategory will be declared winners.
The overall “Innovator of the Year” winner will be determined by an international panel of highly qualified judges, which will decide from among the winners, the submission most deserving of recognition based upon the following criteria:
Innovation – Technology that represents novel thinking in addressing habilitation of acquired hearing loss, its treatment and delivery.
Effectiveness - Technological advances that best address limitations of previous generations of technology
Efficiency – Advances that best close the distance between hearing care and the end-user
Utility – Innovation that promotes greater ease of use by the end-user and/or practitioner
Winners will be announced in October. Category winners will be recognized and the “Innovator of the Year” award winner will be announced during the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA), AuDacity 2021, which will take place in Portland, Oregon on October 25-27, 2021.
“The Hearing Technology Innovator Awards recognizes ground-breaking solutions across the hearing industry,” said Stephanie Czuhajewski, executive director of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology, “and we are thrilled that HHTM will reveal the Innovator of the Year during AuDacity 2021, Audiology Unleashed!”
Making an Impact
In its inaugural year, HHTM successfully raised over $4,000 for the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) through the awards program.
For 2021, the organization hopes to double its impact by supporting two non-profit groups through proceeds generated from this year’s program: HLAA and Hearing Health Foundation (HHF).
Said HHF President & CEO Timothy Higdon: "For more than 60 years, HHF’s basic science research has informed many of the most significant technological advancements in auditory treatment to improve quality of life for millions with hearing loss. As such, we are deeply appreciative of the innovations the HHTM competition will undoubtedly bring, and will judiciously apply all generous proceeds toward promising hearing and balance research."
Submissions
Companies interested in submitting their products for the awards program can submit their products here. The deadline for product submissions is July 21, 2021.
About the Hearing Technology Innovator Awards
The Hearing Technology Innovator Awards is an international awards program designed to recognize and celebrate innovation within the hearing industry. Learn more at https://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearing-technology-innovator-awards/.
About HHTM
Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) provides timely information and lively insights to anyone who cares about hearing loss. Readers and contributors are drawn from many sectors of the hearing field, including practitioners, researchers, manufacturers, educators, and, importantly, consumers with hearing loss and those who love them. By involving all these groups, we hope to bridge the gaps in knowledge that so often divide them. To learn more, visit HearingHealthMatters.org.
What Else Is New in Hearing and Balance Research
I’d like to share four important breakthroughs in hearing research over the past year, and how each also connects back to Hearing Health Foundation, to varying degrees. These major advances offer hope for how we might improve or restore hearing and, by extension, bring a bit more of that wonderful world into everyone’s lives.