2011 Prism Award Finalists Are Announced

BELLINGHAM, WA and PITTSFIELD, MA--(Marketwire - Nov 16, 2011) - Finalists have been named in nine categories for the 2011 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, sponsored by SPIE and Photonics Media.

Winners will be announced by industry leaders at a gala ceremony on 25 January during SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco. Presenters for the 2011 awards are being confirmed. Past awards have been presented by industry leaders such as Michael Mertin, CEO of JENOPTIK; Robert Edmund, CEO and Chairman of Edmund Optics; Marita Paasch, VP of SCHOTT Advanced Optics; and Milton Chang, Managing Director of the high-tech venture fund Incubic.

The Prism Awards -- termed the "Photonics Oscar" by the industry -- recognizes photonic products that break with conventional ideas, solve problems, and improve life through the generation and harnessing of light. Finalists and winners are chosen by an independent panel of industry experts.

"The quality and competition among this year's entries was even keener than in past years. More companies submitted applications than ever before. The strength of applications from core companies in our industry along with the impressive innovations bubbling up from smaller companies really demonstrate the vitality of the photonics industry," said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs.

"We are very pleased to have this means of bringing visibility and recognition to industry colleagues," Arthurs added. "SPIE and Photonics Media extend our thanks to all who took the time to apply, and also to the judges, who are themselves outstanding contributors to photonics research and technology development. The Prism Awards have truly become a celebration of and for our entire industry."

Seventeen of the finalists will exhibit at the Photonics West exhibition at the Moscone Center in San Francisco 25-27 January. Booth numbers of finalists and their product entries are noted in the alphabetical listing below.

For more information on the awards program, visit www.photonicsprismaward.com.

Defense and Security

• Headwall Photonics Inc.: Hyperspec RECON Handheld Sensor (Booth 903)
• Physical Optics Corporation: Mobile ELISA-based Pathogen Detection
• Zomega Terahertz Corporation: micro-Z (Booth 2511)

Detectors, Sensing, Imaging, and Cameras

• CyberOptics Semiconductor: WaferSense Airborne Particle Sensor
• MERMEC: T-Sight 5000
• Vieworks Co., Ltd.: VN Series Camera Link Camera

Green Photonics and Sustainable Energy

• Cogenra Solar: Solar Cogeneration Solution
• nanoplus: DFB laser at 3µm (Booth 2523)
• Opalux Inc.: P-ink Displays

Industrial Lasers

• Amplitude Systemes: Satsuma HE (Booth 1431)
• Spectra-Physics: Mosaic 532-11 Laser (Booth 1301)
• Xiton Photonics Gmbh: IMPRESS 213 (Booth 1500)

Life Sciences and Biophotonics

• Coherent: OBIS (Booth 1015)
• 89 North: Heliophor (Booth 407)
• Rebellion Photonics, Inc.: The ARROW Hyperspectral Camera

Optics and Optical Components

• Haas Laser Technologies, Inc.: Thermal Lensing Compensation Objective (Booth 5502)
• Optotune AG: Laser Speckle Reducer (Booth 5501)
• PixelOptics Inc.: emPower!

Other Light Sources

• Intematix: ChromaLit (Booth 506)
• OEwaves: Ultra-Narrow Linewidth Laser (Booth 4632)
• Philips Lumileds: Luxeon A

Scientific Lasers

• KMLabs: Wyvern-X
• Newport Corporation Spectra-Physics: InSight DeepSee (Booth 1301)
• Pd-LD Inc.: LabSource- VBG^® stabilized dual-laser source (Booth 828)

Test, Measurement, Metrology

• KLA-Tencor: FabVision Solar (Booth 2100)
• nanoplus: DFB laser at 3µm (Booth 2523)
• WITec GmbH: True Surface Microsopy
• Zygo Corporation: DynaFiz™ (Booth 1230)

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent, and career and professional growth. SPIE annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions, and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. SPIE provided over $2.3 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2010.

Photonics Media, a global photonics publishing powerhouse, is the media brand of Laurin Publishing. It is responsible for publishing Photonics Spectra, BioPhotonics, and EuroPhotonics magazines, Photonics.com, as well as the Photonic's Buyer's Guide -- the most trusted and well-respected reference guide in the industry. For more information, visit www.photonics.com.