Entry Deadline Is 10 October For International Photonics Prism Awards

Top new products for healthcare, manufacturing, energy, security and communication demonstrate photonics 'wow' factor

Entries are being accepted through 10 October for the prestigious 2015 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation. The international competition honors new technology and product inventions from the multi-billion dollar optics and photonics industry, and is sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Photonics Media.

The awards celebrate creativity and persistence as well as the versatility of photonics, said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs.

"What should be the outcome of all the research work, all the intellectual firepower of our community? Expansion of human knowledge and understanding is laudable, but it is through new products and processes that research impacts people. Our Prism Awards honor the companies and individuals who have brought research to reality," he said.

"The awards recognize the persistence and commitment that are required to ensure that the very clever ideas one hears about at our conferences translate into commercialized products," Arthurs said. "Tools for the medical community, instruments for the factories or laboratories of the future: these are what make a difference. We celebrate the skills and talents that make research useful. Each Prism Awards cycle provides an inspiring look at some of the best of the recent product introductions -- crowned by an evening of 'wow!'"

The Prism Awards boost visibility and credibility for companies with the most novel and innovative products on the market. To be eligible, products must be sold, delivered or launched between 1 January 2014 and 1 February 2015. Companies may enter one product per category. However companies may apply with multiple products.  Entries are being accepted in the categories of:

• Additive Manufacturing
• Alternative Lighting
• Biomedical Instrumentation
• Detectors and Sensors
• Displays
• Imaging and Cameras
• Industrial Lasers
• Materials and Coatings
• Optical Communications
• Optics and Optical Components
• Other Metrology Instrumentation
• Scientific Lasers.

Finalists will be announced in November.  Winners will be announced 11 February at a gala banquet held during SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, California.

The competition is judged by an independent panel of industry experts including innovators from top companies, leaders in academia, business developers, previous award winners, financial experts, and other photonics industry leaders.

Several 2014 Prism Award winners have collected more recognition since last February's presentations, and a number of companies have reported advances with their winning products. Among them:

Necsel was named as the IMAX Corporation's exclusive provider of specified lasers for IMAX laser projection systems. Necsel won in the category of Other Light Sources for its Frequency Converted Green Laser Array.

AccuVein announced that it had passed CE certification standards enabling sales throughout the European Economic Area. AccuVein won in the Life Sciences and Biophotonics category for its AV400 Vein Viewing System.

Tornado Spectral Systems announced new investments from two venture capital firms that will help advance its award-winning Octane-860 and other tools for measuring chemical composition and structure of materials in real-time. Tornado won in the Detectors, Sensing, Imaging, and Cameras category.

Compass-EOS won the Red Herring Top 100 North America Award recognizing companies poised for "explosive" growth, and Chairman and CEO Matt Bross received the IEEE 2014 Chairman's Award for global leadership in technology transformations. Compass-EOS won for its r10004 Router in the Optics and Optical Components category.

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 256,000 constituents from approximately 155 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals, and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional networking, and patent precedent. SPIE provided more than $3.2M in support of education and outreach programs in 2013. For more information, visit www.spie.org.

About Photonics Media
Photonics Media, a brand of Pittsfield, Mass.-based Laurin Publishing Co. Inc., publishes Photonics Spectra, BioPhotonics, EuroPhotonics, Photonics Buyers' Guide and Photonics.com. With a collective subscriber base of more than 150,000 worldwide and more than 4 million unique website visits per year, Laurin Publishing's Photonics Media products and publications lead the photonics industry with editorial excellence and integrity -- fostering a tradition of innovation and progress by sharing knowledge, insights and visions for the future. For more information, visit www.photonics.com.