Rebellion Photonics named WSJ Startup of the Year for gas-detecting hyperspectral camera

Nov. 5, 2013

New York, NY--The Wall Street Journal named Rebellion Photonics the WSJ Startup of the Year on Monday for its Gas Cloud Imaging Camera, which is based on a snap-shot hyperspectral imaging technology that continuously monitors oil rigs and refineries.

Conard Holton

New York, NY--The Wall Street Journal named Rebellion Photonics (Houston, TX) the WSJ Startup of the Year on Monday for its Gas Cloud Imaging Camera, which is based on a snap-shot hyperspectral imaging technology that continuously monitors oil rigs and refineries. Rebellion was one of 24 companies competing in the five-month contest.

Rebellion was founded in 2009, by Allison Lami Sawyer and Robert Kester, and began its first full-scale installation in 2013. It offers a monthly subscription service to oil and gas companies based on the number of cameras needed to cover a particular rig or refinery. The cameras can detect at least 20 different gases simultaneously and in real time.

Related article:Hyperspectral-camera-based vision system reconstructs images in real time for intensive analysis applications

To win, the participants performed tasks and challenges over the course of the project, including an elevator pitch and a debate. The Journal editors periodically eliminated startups based on scalability, long-term viability, distinctiveness, and social good.

According to the Journal, Rebellion receives a full-page advertisement as well as two of the newspaper's iconic stipple drawings. Sawyer says she applied to the project in part to increase the exposure of women-led startups.

Watch the WSJ Startup of the Year videos about Rebellion Photonics.

Read more about photonics in the oil and gas industry.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.