Company’s culture of innovation and proven track record helps it stand out from the rest

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–And a winner of this year’s East Bay Innovation Awards for the Engineering & Design Category is Velodyne LiDAR. Those were the words uttered on March 29 when the Bay Area-based technology company was recognized for its Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-based 3D sensors at a special gala event at the historic Fox Theater in Oakland, California. In front of a sold-out theater, including the Mayor of Oakland Libby Schaff and NBC technology reporter Scott McGrew, Velodyne’s President & CBDO Marta Thoma Hall proudly accepted the award on behalf of the company.

“It is an honor to be recognized for our innovative technology with such a prestigious award for the City of Alameda,” said Marta Hall. “We love being able to grow our team right here at home as we further our mission of creating safer roadways using our LiDAR technology.”

The sixth annual East Bay Innovation Award is an ongoing collaboration between the East Bay Economic Development Alliance and San Francisco Business Times to celebrate and award companies that most contribute to the East Bay’s culture of innovation. Velodyne was selected by an independent panel of judges from a pool of over 100 nominations. By winning the Engineering and Design Category, Velodyne brought home the sixth East Bay Innovation Award for the City of Alameda.

“We are proud that we nominated Alameda-based Velodyne LiDAR, a cutting-edge company on the forefront of autonomous vehicle technology, whose work will improve public safety on the roads,” says Trish Herrera Spencer, Mayor of the City of Alameda. “We look forward to continuing our support of their growth and success in Alameda.”

Velodyne is no newcomer to the world of innovation. For more than a decade, it has designed a wide range of LiDAR sensors, including the Puck™, Ultra Puck™, and VLS-128™, that rely on a 3D vision system that uses lasers to fully “see” the surrounding environment. To date, the company’s sensors have been installed in thousands of autonomous vehicles around the world, traveling millions of real-world miles.