[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The IPSO (Internet Protocol for Smart Objects) Alliance announced today that a panel of industry experts has selected ten semi-finalists for IPSO CHALLENGE 2013. “The judges had an extremely difficult time choosing just ten semi-finalists from the dozens of innovative entries submitted,” said Cooper Industries‘ Nick Ashworth, IPSO CHALLENGE Chairman. “The depth and breadth of the entrants’ ideas shine a spotlight on continuing advances in the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) sectors, and readily demonstrate simple yet sophisticated solutions using the Internet Protocol (IP) and readily available hardware & software.”

IPSO CHALLENGE received entries in a wide range of categories, including smart homes, smart buildings, mobility, gaming, toys; entrants represented 15 countries and a mix of large & small companies, academia, and individuals. The ten semi-finalists and the countries they hail from are: Cisco Systems, Japan; Colorado Micro Devices, USA; FAST Laboratory (Tampere University of Technology), Finland; Oval Integration, USA; Purdue University, USA; Redwire Consulting, USA; University of Patras, Greece; University of Tokyo, Japan; viBrain Solutions and University of Murcia, Spain; and Vienna University of Technology, Austria. Semi-finalists have four weeks to submit functional prototypes; representatives of the three most innovative solutions will travel to Chicago in June to receive awards of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place, and $2,500 for third place, to be presented at Sensors Expo & Conference, North America's largest dedicated sensing event.

At Sensors Expo 2013, the Alliance will be hosting an Internet of Things Pavilion, showcasing the use of the Internet Protocol in sensor, control, and M2M applications. The Pavilion will showcase the innovative designs from CHALLENGE finalists as well as IP-connected solutions from alliance members and partners.