Winners Named for 2015 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation
SAN FRANCISCO, California, USA (PRWEB) February 11, 2015
A gala gathering of photonics industry leaders celebrated top innovations in the field, with companies large and small from around the world walking away with top honors in the annual Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation Wednesday evening during SPIE Photonics West at Moscone Center.
Winners included medical diagnostic and chemical sensing devices for mobile devices, a ground-breaking laser with uses including solar panel manufacture, and the first of a new class of connects that will enable the next generation of data center functionality. Several were collaborative projects among companies, and products demonstrated a strong theme of multi-technology applications.
Sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Photonics Media, the annual awards recognize photonic products that break with conventional ideas, solve problems, and improve life through the application of light-based technologies.
Results were determined by a panel of expert judges, and announced by presenters from leading companies across the photonics industry. The awards ceremony was attended by 340 industry executives, analysts, technologists, and investors from around the world.
Photonics technology has an important role in improving quality of life, and its applications have significant economic impact as well, said SPIE CEO Dr. Eugene Arthurs. This year during the United Nations International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies it is especially fitting to recognize and celebrate the remarkable ability of photonics to enable solutions to the worlds challenges. Ours is an industry of creative minds, and the Prism Awards give us an opportunity to celebrate some of the most outstanding among those.
Laurin Publishing CEO Tom Laurin also praised the winners creativity. It is our great pleasure to collaborate annually with SPIE to present the Prism Awards, and we congratulate this years winners,” he said. “It is wonderful to witness the ongoing innovation from companies that have been part of the industry for years, as well as to support the emerging organizations and individuals shaping the future of the photonics industry.”
Winners in each category are:
Additive Manufacturing: LUXeXcel (Netherlands) Printoptical Technology, an additive, on-demand process for simple, affordable, scalable manufacturing of optical components and lenses, using 3D printing technology that jets individual UV-curable material droplets; enabling optics testing with easy iterations and the possibility to customize according to the application, project, or particular product.
Biomedical Instrumentation: BacterioScan (USA) Laser Microbial Growth Monitor, a low-cost method of measuring bacteria in fluids at concentrations below the limit of detection of other state-of-the-art technologies; able to detect changes in bacterial growth within 10%, urinary tract infection within 90 minutes with > 90% sensitivity, complete antibiotic resistance measurements in <2 hours.