Finalists announced for 2025 Tech Titans Awards

North Texas companies and business leaders are the among the finalists for the 2025 Annual Tech Titans Awards presented by The University of Texas at Dallas.

Winners will be announced on Sept. 12 at the annual awards presentation at the Hyatt Regency Frisco – Dallas.

In total, eight companies, four universities and 30 individuals, including four high school teachers, were named finalists.

Awards and finalists are listed below:

Community Hero

Abigail Erickson-Torres, Frontiers of Flight Museum (Dallas)Kris Fitzgerald, Smart Data Solutions (Minnesota HQ / Plano office)Shoba Krishnamurthy, Toyota Financial Services (Plano)Debbie Mrazek, The Sales Company (Plano)

Corporate CIO/ CTO

Todd Kackley, Textron (Rhode Island HQ / Fort Worth)Steven Klohn, Dave & Buster’s (Dallas)Dr. Julius Smith, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dallas)

Corporate Innovation

InfoVision (Richardson)KPMG (Dallas)Murata (Carrollton)Prodapt North America (Global company / Richardson location)

Emerging Company CEO

Lalit Ahluwalia, DigitalXForce (Southlake)Maria Coello, MyClick Insurance (Dallas)Laurel Hess, Hampr (Dallas)Elad Inbar, RobotLAB (Southlake)

Emerging Company CIO/CTO

Merlin Bise, Inbenta (Allen)Priya Reddy, Reprise Financial (Coppell)Sudip Shekhawat, LeaseLock (Dallas)Jack Smith, WATTER (Dallas)

Emerging Company Innovation

DigitalXForce (Southlake)Island (Dallas)QualiZeal (Irving)TrueSpot (Irving)

Startup Company CEO

Chris Brickler, Mynd Immersive (Plano)Mohammed Njie, Janta Power (Dallas)Dr. David Roberson, Blackbox BioTech (Dallas)Veena Somareddy, Neuro Rehab VR (Fort Worth)

Technology Advocate

Karen Bruno, Tech CxO LaunchPad (Dallas)Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, The University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson)Jennifer Sanders, North Texas Innovation Alliance (Dallas)Hope Shimabuku, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) - Southwest Regional Office (Main office in Virginia / SW Regional Office in Dallas)

Technology Inventor

Mike Hanna, TrueSpot (Irving)Dr. Michael Kilgard, Texas Biomedical Device Center, The University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson)Dr. Astha Malhotra, Phylactics (Fort Worth)Dr. David Roberson, Blackbox BioTech (Dallas)

Tech Titans of the Future — College/ University

Collin College, Electronic Engineering Technology Program (Collin County)Dallas College, Texas A&M Engineering Academy (Dallas County)Southern Methodist University, Cox School of Business, Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership (Dallas)The University of Texas at Dallas, North Texas Semiconductor Institute (Richardson)

Tech Titans of the Future — High School

Matt Abbondanzio, Greenhill School (Dallas)Kim Biggerstaff, Frisco Independent School District (Frisco)Marcus Edwards, Farmersville Independent School District (Farmersville)Julia Goodwin, Plano Independent School District (Plano)

The Tech Titans Awards, presented by the leading association serving the North Texas technology community, celebrate the achievements of companies and individuals who are driving innovation and shaping the future of the high-tech industry, both locally and globally.

“This year’s finalists represent the very best of innovation, leadership, and impact in the tech industry,” said Paul Bendel, executive director of Tech Titans. “Being named a finalist is a testament to their excellence and the rigorous evaluation process led by our panel of peer judges. We’re excited to celebrate these remarkable individuals and organizations at the upcoming awards ceremony.”

The program is also supported by the city of Frisco, which is the program’s first “Host City Sponsor” for the program.