EC&M Announces 2005 Product Of The Year Category Winners

The Product of the Year competition has honored innovation and excellence in product development in the electrical industry for the past five years. On Feb. 8 at the Electric West show in Anaheim, Calif., EC&M announced the 25 category winners for the 2005 competition. The magazine received a record number of entries, which increased from 111 last year to 136 in 2005.

A panel of eight judges including electrical engineers and electricians, met on Feb. 3 at Primedia Business Magazines & Media, the Overland Park, Kan., publishing company that owns EC&M, Electrical Marketing, Electrical Wholesaling, and several other publications.

The judges spent five hours evaluating each of the products, reviewing all of the manufacturers’ literature, and determining a winner in each of the product categories. The 25 finalists will go on to compete for the 2005 Product of the Year Platinum Award. This winner will be selected by EC&M readers, who will vote online for their favorite product on EC&M's Web site. Photos and descriptions of the finalists will also be published in the February issue of EC&M and the March issue of Electrical Wholesaling.

Here’s a list of the finalists:

• Ballasts
  Optanium(TM) PS Electronic Ballast
  Advance Transformer Co.

  
  

• Boxes & Enclosures
  Clear Cover J Series Enclosure
  Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures

  
  

• Computers & Software
  Volts v3.34 Design Software
  Dolphins Software

  
  

• Conduit & Cable Fittings
  Space-Saver EMT Connectors
  Cooper Crouse-Hinds

  
  

• Connectors & Terminating Devices
  GelPort Submersible Secondary Connectors
  Tyco Electronics Corp. / Raychem

  
  

• Construction Equipment
  SoaperMonkeyTM Wire Lubricating System
  WLD, LLC

  
  

• Fasteners, Hangers & Accessories
  C-Port Rooftop Supports
  Cooper B-Line

  
  

• Lamps
  PulseStrikeTM T15 Metal Halide Lamp
  USHIO America, Inc.

  
  

• Lighting Fixtures
  Indura 4X Industrial Emergency Unit
  Lithonia Lighting

  
  

• Lighting Systems
  LED-FLEX(TM) LED Lighting System
  Mule Lighting, Inc.

  
  

• Monitoring Instruments
  Shark 100 Power & Energy Meter
  Electro Industries/GaugeTech

  
  

• Motors, Drives & Motor Controls
  Super-E® Brake Motors
  Baldor Electric Co.

  
  

• Portable Test & Measurement Equipment
  Industrial Clamp Meters with TightSightTM Display
  Ideal Industries, Inc.

  
  

• Power Conditioning Equipment
  Powerware® 9390 Three-Phase UPS
  Eaton Corporation

  
  

• Power Distribution Equipment
  TransforMore(TM) Dry Type Transformer
  GE Consumer & Industrial

  
  

• Power Sources
  Bi-Fuel Standby Generator
  Generac Power Systems, Inc.

  
  

• Protective Devices
  S1 Safeguard Automatic Ignitor Cutoff
  Thomas Research Products

  
  

• Security Equipment & Systems
  VideoJet 10 Digital Encoder for CCTV Systems
  Bosch Security Systems

  
  

• Specialty Products
  BonDuit(TM) Conduit Adhesive
  American Polywater Corp.

  
  

• Tools (Hand)
  SpeedSet Conduit Tool
  Maxis Corp.

  
  

• Tools (Accessory Items)
  The Lolly(TM) Portable Dolly
  Mindco Industries, LLC

  
  

• Voice/Data/Video Equipment
  LinkMaster(TM) PRO XL Handheld Tester
  Ideal Industries, Inc.

  
  

• Wire & Cable
  Romex® SIMpull Type NM-B Cable
  Southwire Co.

  
  

• Wiring Devices
  DS100C Decontactor Plug/Receptacle/Switch
  Meltric Corporation

  
  

• Wiring Systems
  MWS® Modular Wiring System
  MWS / Cooper Lighting