Eight North County companies are finalists for the Most Innovative Products awards from the UCSD Connect technology program. The winners will be announced Wednesday at a luncheon at the Sheraton Harbor Island hotel in San Diego.

Connect has held the event for the past 16 years to recognize rising high-tech and biotechnology companies. It's billed as the county's largest high-tech event, with more than 900 industry professionals expected to attend.

There are a total of 19 finalists. Five of the eight North County contenders are located in Carlsbad. The North County finalists are: Zyray Wireless, Carmel Valley; CancerVax, CineForm, GenVault Corp., Preventsys Inc. and Oluma Inc. of Carlsbad; Tarari Inc. of Rancho Bernardo; and Palomar Technologies of Vista.

Most of the companies work in the field of electronics or wireless, except for GenVault and CancerVax, which are biotech companies.

Exhibits will be open from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and again from 1 to 2 p.m. The luncheon runs from 11:30 a.m. to noon, and the award presentation from 1 to 2 p.m.

Connect was founded in 1985 to help bring together academic researchers, business executives and investors. The program, hosted by UCSD Extension, holds numerous events to highlight trends in technology and showcase technology companies looking for investors.

For more information, contact Theresa Cervantes de Torres at (858) 964-1317 or Connie Roloff at (619) 237-7718. Connect's Web site is at www.connect.org.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.