NanoScreen LLC was named the Innovator of the Year 2006 at an awards program Thursday night presented by the Charleston Regional Business Journal.

NanoScreen,LLC is changing the world of biotech research by creating the NSX-1536 pipetting head, which sits atop a robotic platform. The pipette head uses contamination-free disposable tips and allows researchers to simultaneously and precisely transfer 1,536 titanium micro-syringes of test drug samples from one location to another quickly and cheaply. This $85,000 piece of equipment is the only one of its kind in the world.

Using titanium, the company figured out a way to make 1,536 micro-syringes fit into an area of 3.5 by 5 inches. It took five years of designing and saving pennies. Daniel Dechert, NanoScreen's chief executive officer, and his team members accepted the award. Nine others organizations and individuals were honored as this year's Innovators: eSchoolware Inc., FirstString Research Inc., Humanities Foundation, Lowcountry Graduate Center, Wilson Gautreaux with MeadWestvaco, Navigational Sciences, Rotomotion LLC, Scientific Research Corp. and Telecom International Inc.

All 10 winners will be profiled in the Aug. 7 issue of the Charleston Regional Business Journal.