By Jim Connolly

There are those people who walk into a room and enter into a discussion and you know right away, there’s something special about them. They are bright, well-informed, focused and energetic. They’re leaders. Put 10 of them in the room, and you have something dynamic.

That’s the way it was with the 2009 MHT Women to Watch event last spring.

You had a room full of people like Cambridge Nanocomp’s Jill Becker who has been building and then selling “atomic layer deposition” systems, sort of like an oven used to develop nanoscale thin films, such as coatings for drillbits. But she often did it one-handed, with a baby in the other arm.

Intel’s Mondira Pant has a batch of microprocessor-related patent applications in the pipeline and has authored some 30 technical papers. She also has focused on developing her skills as a public speaker, being honored as the best speaker at an Intel technical conference, while reaching out to the community to teach dance.

Then, there was Anna Mracek Dietrich, one of the MIT rocket team alums that are building a roadable aircraft, what the rest of us might call a flying car. But Dietrich isn’t just a techie, she’s the business person behind the business at Terafugia. In addition, to show the wisdom of youth, as one of the youngest Women to Watch, she observed that she awaits the day when there will be no need for an event that focuses just on the achievements of women.

For now, though, it’s important to continue to recognize the accomplishments of the women who are driving forward the New England technology sector. So, for the seventh year, Mass High Tech will recognize the women who have contributed to the tech community, but also are poised to be industry leaders of the future.

Time is running out. We need you and your peers to nominate great candidates for the 2010 Women to Watch awards. As members of the tech community you know best who they are.

Nominations close on December 4, with honorees being celebrated on March 18. Please submit your nominations here.