MANCHESTER — The New Hampshire High Technology Council's Product of the Year competition has been narrowed to five finalists who will give live presentations in their quest for the crown on Nov. 13.

The finalists are Airmar Technology of Milford, Dynamic Benchmarking of Windham, Itaconix of Dover, Medtronic Advanced Energy and Therma-Hexx, both of Portsmouth.

Each will make a seven-minute pitch to a live audience that will cast votes at the 2012 Product of the Year (POY) reception next month at the SERESC conference center on Commerce Drive, Bedford, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The audience vote counts for half the final score; judges' votes count for the remaining half.

All finalists will be awarded a Product of the Year Judges' Award at the event.

“The event structure has been altered for 2012 to speed up the pace and add more excitement, but still features great networking opportunities with hundreds of business leaders from across the state,” said Matt Cookson, executive director of NHHTC.

The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the event and will have the their name engraved on the NHHTC Product of the Year crystal trophy, designed for the council by noted local artist Pepi Hermann and kept on display at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

This year's POY judges are Jeff Pollack, Chris Hawekotte, Ali Rafieymehr and Dave Todaro. The final five were selected Oct. 18 from a field of eight. The other semifinalists were WWPass of Bedford, Newmarket International of Portsmouth and Meltwater Group of Bedford.

Foss Manufacturing of Hampton won the 2011 Product of the Year Award for its SpectraShield surgical mask. Other previous winners include Nanocomp Technologies, UltraVision, Insight Tech Gear and Holase Inc.

The cost to attend the POY reception is $55 for NHHTC members and $85 for non-members. There are no table sales this year as the event is general seating with heavy hors d'oeuvre, not a formal dinner.

For more information or to register, go to NHHTC.org.