At a gala banquet held during SPIE Photonics West, 10 winners of a Prism Award for Photonics Innovation were announced by industry leaders. The categories, winning companies, and products are:
Detectors and Sensors: NKT Photonics (Denmark) LIOS EN.SURE Long Range DTS and RTTR, a long-range optical-fiber-based temperature- and strain-sensing measurement system designed to monitor underground transmission and distribution power cables, and overhead transmission lines
Environmental Monitoring: Block Engineering (USA) LaserWarn Analyzer, uses Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs) combined with mid-infrared spectroscopy to detect and identify chemical clouds in seconds
Illumination and Light Sources: SoraaLaser (USA) LaserLight Fiber Module, the world's first white-light, high-luminance, remotely delivered white laser light module, enabling the highest luminance light source available
Imaging and Cameras: Luminar (USA) Model-G 3D LiDAR sensor architecture delivering more than one million data points per second, with each point capable of reliably detecting less than 10% reflective targets at more than 200 meters away
Lasers: Class 5 Photonics (Germany) Supernova Optical Parametric Chirped-Pulse Amplifier, providing options for tunability, multiple outputs, and CEP stability to allow tailoring for custom multicolor experiments at full system performance and unprecedented stability over days
Life Science Instrumentation: Quantumcyte (USA) Q1 - ArraySeQ, enabling phenotypic profiling of single cells over thousands of cells simultaneously, and correlating that information to the genetic data collected from each cell
Material Processing and Additive Manufacturing: LIMO (Germany) Activation Line UV-L750, optical beam-delivery and beam-shaping system for UV laser lift-off of flexible OLED displays, which may be used for solid-state laser annealing as well
Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics: ContinUse Biometrics (Israel) SmartHealth Mod, first-ever sensor capable of simultaneously monitoring several bio-parameters continuously and from a distance, by detecting nano-vibrations of the body
Optics and Optomechanical Components: AdlOptica Optical Systems (Germany) foXXus -multi-focus optics, a highly flexible optics tool that gives lasers improved process performance at lower costs
Test and Measurement: Spheryx, Inc. (USA) xSight, the first quantitative measurement of both size and composition in complex fluid samples in their native environments - in real-time in a matter of minutes - to detect dangerous or damaging particles or simultaneously detect different particles of the same size
Presenting the awards were leaders from the photonics industry:
• Kathleen Burke, Vice President and General Counsel at MKS Instruments
• Debbie Gustafson, CEO of Energetiq Technology
• Uwe Higgen, Managing Partner at BMW i Ventures
• Akira Hiruma, President and CEO of Hamamatsu
• Ray O. Johnson, Bessemer Venture Partners, former CTO, Lockheed Martin
• Wilhelm Kaenders, Co-Founder and President TOPTICA Photonics
• Peter Leibinger, Vice Chairman of the Managing Board of TRUMPF
• Eric Mottay, CEO of Amplitude Systèmes
• Darius Sankey, Managing Director at Innovation Acceleration Capital
• Danielle Wuchenich, Liquid Instruments & Lockheed Martin
A full list of the semi-finalists may be found HERE.
Source: SPIE
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.