Innovative photonics products named as Prism Awards finalists

BELLINGHAM, Washington, and PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts, USA — Disruptive technology for assessing chemical composition in real time, a LiDAR system for self-driving vehicles, and a smartphone-add-on sensor for noncontact blood pressure and other healthcare tests are among the impressive finalists for the prestigious 2018 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation competition.

Sponsored annually by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Photonics Media to honor groundbreaking technology and product inventions within the high-impact industry of optics and photonics, the Prism Awards are celebrating 10 years of bringing recognition to life-changing products in 2018.

“Ten years in, the Prism Awards are casting an even wider light on the photonics industry. Each year, categories for the awards are driven by the innovations entered, providing direct insight into thriving and emerging ‘hot’ markets. Significantly, this year there are ten categories rather than the usual nine. Biomedical entries are featured in two categories, Life Science Instrumentation and Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics, illustrating the vitality of that field. Also new this year are categories for inventions in Environmental Monitoring and for Illumination and Light Sources — very timely as the world continues to work toward more sustainable energy sources and devices,” said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs.

Winners will be announced on 31 January at a gala banquet during SPIE Photonics West (www.spie.org/PW) in San Francisco, California. With high-level presenters and an audience including the who’s who of the photonics industry, the awards boost visibility, recognition, and brand equity for companies bringing innovative products to the market.

Finalist products and descriptions are detailed at www.photonicsprismaward.com. The field includes:

– Life Science Instrumentation

• neaspec GmbH: cryo-neaSNOM
• Quantumcyte: Q1
• Tomocube: HT-2