Prism Awards Honor Innovations in ‘Ubiquitous’ Photonics Technology: Innovations in photonics technology including new tools for diagnosing cancer, testing water and food for toxins, and manufacturing automobiles were among 10 inventions honored with the Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco this week. The range of applications recognized with the annual awards illustrates the ubiquitous nature of photonics technologies in daily life as well as tools for R&D. SAN FRANCISCO, California, USA (PRWEB) February 06, 2013 An early-stage diagnostic tool for skin cancers, a portable device to test for toxins in water and food, and a versatile laser capable of meeting multiple industrial needs were among 10 winners of the annual Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation announced Wednesday 6 February at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco. 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 included a tie between the top two entries in the particularly competitive Green Photonics category. “This year’s Prism winners serve as inspiring examples of the many ways ubiquitous photonics technologies touch and improve our lives ― diagnosing and treating disease, ensuring food hygiene and water purity, maintaining safety in our communities ― as well as improve research capabilities to address those and other challenges” said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. “While the Prism Awards provide well-deserved recognition for these innovative companies, they also serve to underscore the powerful role of photonics R&D in effecting positive change in the world.” Winners are: Defense and Security: OEwaves (Pasadena, California) won for its Micro-Opto-Electronic-Oscillator enabling significant performance improvements in airborne radar and signal intelligence systems in operating environments on miniature military platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles. Detectors, Sensing, Imaging, and Cameras: Princeton Instruments (Trenton, New Jersey) won with its IsoPlane SCT Spectrograph, giving researchers the ability to utilize the full spatial extent of their detectors without loss of spectral or spatial resolution. Green Photonics (tie): The Visualant (Seattle, Washington) ChromaID device tests virtually any material, aerosol, or color using spectral pattern matching technology. The device collects light patterns using a panel of LEDs. Processing software matches the reflected pattern against a database in the cloud, and a Bluetooth interface communicates with smartphones for field testing of water, food, and fuel. Green Photonics (tie): LEOSPHERE of Orsay, France, won for its R-MAN510. With Raman and dual-polarized channels, the eye-safe, networkable device combines the full performance of sophisticated research lidar with the compactness and low maintenance requirements of cloud ceilometers. Industrial Lasers: TeraDiode (Wilmington, Massachusetts) won with its TeraBlade 2kW High Brightness Direct Diode Laser, a high-brightness laser emitter that allows direct diode lasers to cut and weld steel in industrial applications. Its wavelength beam-combining technology combines the output of any number, type, wavelength, or power of laser emitters into a single, incoherent laser beam while retaining the brightness of the original emitters. Life Sciences and Biophotonics: The Verisante Technology (Vancouver, Canada) Aura is a novel Raman spectroscopy device designed to aid in the early detection of all forms of skin cancer including melanoma, basal and squamous cell carcinoma. The underlying technology has also shown promise in the early detection of other cancers including lung, cervix, and colon cancer. Manufacturing: The Heidelberg Instruments (Heidelberg, Germany) winning MicroPG501 Direct-Write Lithography System is a desktop maskless aligner lithography tool able to write small patterns into photoresists without using a photomask, allowing the user to go directly from design to imaging on the substrate. Optics and Optical Components: From TAG Optics (Princeton, New Jersey), the ultrahigh speed TAG Lens 2.0 is a tunable gradient index of refraction device exhibiting aspherical wavefronts with low spherical aberrations for emerging applications in industrial or biomedical imaging, laser microprocessing, and metrology. Scientific Lasers: With the Continuum, Inc. (Santa Clara, California) Horizon OPO, spectroscopists have one all-encompassing oscillator tool allowing them to take their experiments through the entire spectrum, instead of using multiple devices. Test, Measurement, Metrology: Linden Photonics (Westfield, Massachusetts), in its Lindex Optics Cleaners utilize the same principles of the Van der Waals force that allows a gecko’s feet to stick to slick walls with the aid of tiny microhairs: contaminants such as carbon and oils stick to their highly absorptive fiber optics cleaning tool at a molecular level. See the Prism Awards website for more information about the companies and their winning new products: photonicsprismawards.org. About SPIE: SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. The Society serves nearly 225,000 constituents from approximately 150 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals, and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional growth, and patent precedent. SPIE provided over $2.7 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2011. About Photonics Media: 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, as well as the Photonics Buyers’ Guide — the most trusted and well-respected reference guide in the industry. For more information, visit photonics/
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 20:04:38 +0000