Ocean Optics Awards Blue Ocean Grants

Open innovation program rewards outstanding technology contributions

Ocean Optics is proud to announce the winners of this year’s Blue Ocean Grants, an open innovation program seeking novel ideas and technologies with the ultimate potential to change the world for the better and lead to eventual market commercialization. In its second year, the program has grown increasingly competitive with exceptional applications received from all over the world.

The Blue Ocean grants are divided into two phases. Phase I grants are issued to fund initial evaluation and development of ideas and technologies to the proof-of-concept phase. These $10,000 awards help applicants design and develop new photonics technologies and applications. Phase II grants will be issued to nurture a proposed technology through proof-of-concept in a way that enables the potential of market commercialization. Phase II awards are much larger – up to $100,000 USD – and will be announced shortly.

“The quality of this year’s entries was exceptional and the interest in this program has continued to grow each year,” said David Creasey, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The high quality of the applications made the selection process very competitive. The winners demonstrate the power of open innovation and drive to change the world through diverse application pathways. We’re excited and honored to help facilitate development at both the Phase I and Phase II levels of funding.”

Recipients were chosen based on potential to change the world for the better, out of the box thinking, technical merit and potential commercial viability.

This year’s Phase I winners are:
Anthony M. Filippi, Ph.D., and Burak Güneralp, Ph.D., from the Department of Geography, Texas A&M University; College Station, Texas, and Lee Tarpley, Ph.D., from the Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center; Beaumont, Texas, for their proposal entitled “Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Effect on Arsenic and Water-Stress Detection in Rice”

Dr. Damian Gardiner and Dr. Philip Hands from the Centre of Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics (CMMPE) at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom for their proposal entitled “Printable Laser Sources for Anti-Counterfeiting Applications”

Dr. Zheng Peichao, from the College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, China for the proposal entitled “Low-Cost On-line Spectra Measurement Device for Metal Ions in Water”

For more information, visit http://blueoceangrants.com/, Info@oceanoptics.com.

About Ocean Optics
Headquartered in Dunedin, Fla., Ocean Optics is a leading supplier of solutions for optical sensing – fundamental methods of measuring and interpreting the interaction of light with matter.  With locations in the Americas, Europe and Asia, the company has sold more than 200,000 spectrometers worldwide since 1992. Ocean Optics’ extensive line of complementary technologies includes chemical sensors, analytical instrumentation, optical fibers, metrology products and optics. The company is a subsidiary of Halma p.l.c., an international market leader in safety, health and sensor technology.