Bay Area firms well-represented at Emmy Awards for technology and engineering
Bay Area technology giants were among the winners at the 76th Annual Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards in New York on Thursday.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored the best in technology and engineering, celebrating breakthrough innovations in broadcast. The evening began with CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue performing a tongue-in-cheek song and piano solo honoring the nominees.
"These are the awards for the innovators and engineers who created the tools and the processes that made it possible to make your favorite shows, to cover your favorite events, and to deliver that amazing television to your home, to your mobile device, to your big screen or your small screen," said Adam Sharp, NATAS President & CEO.
San Francisco-based company Dolby was awarded the prestigious Pioneering Emmy Award for its Mastering HDR Display, which forever changed the industry. Dolby's groundbreaking technology called Pulsar created a new level of brightness, detail, and color never seen before on a TV.
"Proud and accomplished," said Ajit Ninan, Pioneering Emmy Award Winner. "What we fundamentally did was change the way images are viewed today around the world. When we first started this project, many thought what we were doing was impossible, so this truly is a testament to the leadership and trust that they put in me and my team to be able to execute on this vision."
Bay Area tech companies Google, Adobe, and Apple were also awarded Emmys Thursday night.
"If engineers do their job absolutely perfectly, no one notices, because it just works," said Terry O'Reilly, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chairman. "These are the folks that come up with all those wonderful technologies, and they are just a terrific group of people. It's our great honor to honor them."
The very first Emmy award in 1949 was given for television technology. The awards for acting and directing came later.
Sharp explained why it is so important for NATAS to honor the achievements in technology and engineering.
"Because it was understood from the beginning that without engineering, without the science behind it, there would be no way of getting that creativity to the audience," said Sharp. "In fact, when you look at that Emmy statue, the most iconic thing that makes that Emmy stand out from every other award out there is her holding up that nitrogen atom to symbolize the science and the technology with her electrified wings. The entire form of the statue captures the science and technology that goes into the creativity and lifts it up to bring that creativity home."