Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:01

Masabi, the company that supplies a component for secure mobile train tickets, has won an IET Innovation in Engineering Award.

The award was for innovation in the Security category at the annual The Institution of Engineering and Technology, a professional society for the engineering and technology community with more than 150,000 members in 127 countries.

London based Masabi won the Security award, sponsored by ARM, for their EncryptMe technology, claimed as the world’s only certified mobile Java cryptography.

The EncryptMe technology is a 3kb Java code library providing end-to-end encryption on all Java enabled mobile phones. The software is used in the Chiltern Railways trial of mobile phone train tickets. Historically, mobile phones, while a convenient device for worldwide commerce and communication, didn’t have enough memory to store the security needed and this tackles that issue.

A total of 15 awards, each sponsored by a major company, were presented and at a ceremony at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London hosted by TV personality and science enthusiast Johnny Ball.

The host of “Think of a Number” said: “What makes a great innovator? Perhaps a little eccentricity, a desire for improvement, plus vision and the determination to see it through. All that equals the type of projects recognised through these awards. Innovators always ask ‘Why can't it be better?’ If it wasn’t for innovation we would still have black and white television and mono radio.”

He continued: “Innovation is at the heart of business and wealth creation. It is right that we acknowledge those who push the boundaries of science, engineering and technology and it will be exciting to see how the innovations awarded this year will make their mark in the future. “

From left to right: Lance Howarth (Arm), Ben Whitaker (Masabi) and Johnny Ball

Details of how to enter the 2008 IET awards have already been announced.