Bellingham, WA and Pittsfield, MA--Sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Photonics Media, the 2014 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation honor companies for innovative photonics products that solve problems in healthcare, food and drug safety, manufacturing, and other important areas. Winners from among the following finalists in the nine categories for the 2014 Awards will be announced by industry leaders on February 6 during SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco at the annual banquet.
Entries are judged by an independent panel of experts including industry executives, leading academic researchers, venture capitalists, and past Prism Award winners.
"With such impressive products and such varied applications, selecting finalists was indeed challenging for the judges," said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. "Competitors include larger, well-established companies as well as newer and smaller firms from throughout the world working in a wide variety of sectors. These new products can improve our ability to diagnose cancer without invading the body, navigate our world with more accurate GPS systems, save money and resources with more efficient solar energy generation, and advance the manufacturing revolution with the ability to print even micro-sized parts using 3D printers--and much more. The broad range of entries reflects the extensive reach and power of photonics in our lives, and is a tribute to the creativity of our extraordinarily entrepreneurial community."
The Prism Awards were developed to recognize innovative products that are newly available on the open market. Each category is meant to isolate a specific contribution in photonics, in a technology area or sector of the industry. Categories have been added, removed, and updated over time to reflect trends in the industry. One winner will be selected from among the three finalists in each category.
Finalist companies and their products by category are:
Defense and Security
• Hubner: T-Cognition, terahertz scanner
• Infrasign: SPoT, QCL-based HAZMAT detection
• Ocean Optics: IDRaman mini, handheld sample analyzer
Detectors, Sensing, Imaging, and Cameras
• BaySpec: OCI-1000, hyperspectral handheld imager
• Stanford Computer Optics: XXRapidFrame framing camera fhigh-speed, multi-channel CCD
• Tornado Spectral Systems: OCTANE-860, on-chip spectrometer for OCT
Other light sources
• CoolLED: universal light source for fluorescence microscopy
• Necsel, frequency-converted green laser array
• QD Laser: compact 561nm laser module
Industrial Lasers
• DILAS: Fiber-coupled, multi-single emitter module
• PolarOnyx Laser: URANUS mJ, high-energy femtosecond fiber laser
• V-Gen: VPFL-ISP-1-40-HE-50000 short-pulse MOPA fiber laser
Life Sciences and Biophotonics
• AccuVein: AV400 vein viewing system
• Holomic: rapid diagnostic reader
• Optofluidics: Nano Tweezer
Advanced manufacturing
• Haas Laser Technologies, beam waist analyzer monitor
• Innolite: ILCENTRIC, precision diamond turning system
• Nanoscribe: Photonic Professional GT, high-speed 3D nanoprinter
Optics and Optical Components
• Arrayed Fiberoptics: non-contact optical fiber connector
• Compass-EOS, r10004 router
• Si-ware Systems: MEMS FT-IR spectrometer
Scientific Lasers
• Amplitude Technologies, PULSAR femtosecond laser
• Hubner: C-WAVE optical parametric oscillator
• Lockheed Martin Aculight: Argos Model 2400, optical parametric oscillator
Test, Measurement, Metrology
• Pie Photonics: PieX, portable interferometer
• Zygo: NexView 3D Optical Surface Profiler
• Si-ware Systems: MEMS FT-IR spectrometer
SOURCE: SPIE; http://spie.org/x104842.xml