Detroit® Virtual Technician developed by Zonar has been named a 2013 award finalist by the internationally renowned Edison Awards™. These distinguished awards recognize and honor recipients for innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy. Virtual Technician is a finalist in applied technology, one of twelve categories honored by the Edison Awards.  Virtual Technician is an innovative system that significantly reduces downtime with real-time remote vehicle diagnostic and performance data. Installed on Freightliner trucks equipped with Detroit engines, this advanced networked system captures data snapshots of a vehicle’s engine status before and after an engine fault code is triggered. The data is then electronically transmitted to the Detroit Customer Support Center in Detroit, Michigan. The support center can then alert the driver to the severity of the problem, recommend service and alert the repair facility prior to the customer’s arrival—dramatically increasing vehicle uptime and road safety.  “It is a great honor to be recognized as a finalist for this prestigious award,” said Chris Oliver, Chief Marketing Officer at Zonar. “Virtual Technician allows Detroit Customer Support to immediately work with Freightliner owners and service facilities to ensure maximum vehicle uptime. This enables Detroit and Freightliner to provide a proactive level of service never before seen in the transportation industry.”  “More than any year, this year’s slate of finalists demonstrate the enormous value of teamwork, experimentation, consumer focus, market awareness and game-changing success,” said Frank Bonafilia, Edison Awards’ executive director. “It’s exciting to see companies like Zonar continuing Thomas Edison’s legacy of challenging conventional thinking.”
 
The ballot of nominees for the Edison Awards is judged by more than 3,000 senior business executives and academics from across the nation whose votes acknowledge the finalists’ success in meeting the award criteria of Concept, Value, Delivery and Impact.  The panel includes members of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), the American Association Advertising Agencies (4As) the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO), the Design Management Institute (DMI), the American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Association of Technology Management & Applied Engineering (ATMAE).  Also on the panel are hundreds of past Edison Award winners, marketing professionals, scientists, designers, engineers and academics.
 
Award winners will be announced April 25, 2013 at the Edison Awards Annual Gala, held in the Grand Ballroom at historic Navy Pier in Chicago, IL.