Info tech awards cite Adtran's Smith, others

Huntsville was well represented among the winners at the Alabama Information Technology Association awards presentation Thursday in Birmingham.

Mark Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Adtran Inc., was given the AITA's Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing the economic impact of Smith's efforts in co-founding and leading two successful Alabama-based technology companies in the past 30 years, Adtran and Universal Data Systems.

Avocent Corp. was named the AITA Technology Company of the Year in the large company category. Avocent is the leading global provider in keyboard, video and mouse switching products that allow efficient management of data centers and remote computer networks.

DailyAccess Corp. of Mobile won Technology Company of the Year in the small company category.

Huntsville-based Intergraph Corp., which makes specialty software was a finalist in the large company award category. Huntsville's Baron Services, a weather analysis and storm tracking company, was a finalist in the small business category.

The original members of the German rocket team, led by Dr. Wernher von Braun were also honored with the Genesis Award - sparking the technology industry in Alabama.