BELLINGHAM, Wash., and PITTSFIELD, Mass., Dec. 5, 2018 — Established industry stalwarts will compete with disruptive startups at the Prism Awards ceremony and banquet during SPIE Photonics West 2019 in San Francisco. Celebrating its 11th year, the Prism Awards recognize industrial innovation in photonics in multiple categories; 120 companies from 15 countries applied for this year’s awards.
2018 Prism Award winners in the Lasers category, Class 5 Photonics. Courtesy of SPIE.
The awards, organized by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and sponsored by Photonics Media, add two new categories this year: Transportation and Vision Technologies. The Prism Awards continue to reflect the rich growth, exciting developments, and technical innovation in optics and photonics.
“This year’s Prism finalists represent the savviest and most innovative companies from the growing optics and photonics industry,” said SPIE CEO Kent Rochford. “Bringing a product to market is a huge achievement, and we applaud all the applicants for the many years of research and development necessary to create a sellable technology. The benefits that photonics provide to society are more critical than ever, and the products showcased by the Prism Awards mark an exciting glimpse into the high-level and wide-ranging accomplishments in the field. I look forward to hearing the winners announced at Photonics West.”
Newer companies such as RedShift BioAnalytics, aJile Systems, and Double Helix Optics — a 2016 SPIE Startup Challenge champion and recent winner of Luminate’s accelerator program and $1 million prize — will share the distinction of being finalists alongside photonics giants such as Nikon, Trumpf, Leica, and Hamamatsu.
“Photonics Media is once again exceedingly proud to join in presenting the international competition that has become the benchmark for innovation in photonics around the globe,” said Thomas Laurin, president and CEO of Laurin Publishing. “For more than a decade now, the Prism Awards have recognized the people and companies that are driving the remarkable pace of product innovation and technology application in our burgeoning field.”
Prism Award finalists and their competing technologies:
Detectors & Sensors
CloudMinds — XI AI Raman Spectrometer
Hamamatsu Photonics — C14384MA Mini-Spectrometer (SMD series)
ImpactVision — Real-Time Food Quality Decisions
Diagnostics & Therapeutics
Convergent Dental — Solea CO2 Dental Laser
Double Helix Optics — SPINDLE
RedShift BioAnalytics — AQS Protein Analyzer
Imaging & Cameras
Ajile Light Industries — DepthScan
Leica — BLK3D
RDI Technologies — Iris MX
Industrial Lasers
Civan Advanced Technologies — HP Laser & CBC Technology for Materials Processing
nLIGHT — Corona Fiber Laser
TRUMPF — TruPrint 5000
Light Sources
Gamma Scientific — RS-7-SWIR
SLD Laser — LaserLight MicroSpot Module
Smart Vision Lights — NanoDrive
Optics & Optomechanics
Dover Motion — DOF-5
Modular Photonics — Omplex Passive Silica Chips
Nikon — 4D Free-Form SG
Scientific Lasers
Chromacity — OPO-CX
Spark Lasers — ALCOR 920 nm, 2W
TOPTICA Photonics — DLC TOPO Automated Widely Tunable MIR Laser Source
Test & Measurement
4D Technology — 4D InSpec XL
InterOptics — OptoFlat
SmarAct — PicoScan Vibrometer
Transportation
Alta Devices — AnyLight Gen4 Solar Cell
Blackmore — Automotive Doppler Lidar System
OFS — FlightLinx PLUS Fiber Optic Cable
Vision Technology
AlphaMicron — CTRL Eyewear
Optotune — Extended Pixel Resolution Beam Shifter XPR-25
QD Laser— RETISSA Display
In 2019, SPIE’s Photonics West will host an estimated 23,000 registered attendees, 1,350 exhibitors, and more than 5,200 papers. Along with 14 professional-development sessions and 70-plus courses covering everything from Laser Sources to Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics, Photonics West 2019 also hosts a job fair for optical engineering.