2010 Prism Awards: showcase your products

23 Aug 2010

The deadline for entries to this year's Prism Awards is fast approaching: make sure you apply by September 17.

If your company has developed a photonic product that breaks with convention, solves a problem or improves life in general - why not tell the world all about it by entering the 2010 Prism Awards?

Sponsored by SPIE in collaboration with Photonics Media, these "Oscars" for the photonics industry are eligible to any photonic product that was sold or delivered between September 2009 and August 2010.

The closing date for the 2010 awards, which will be presented at a gala dinner during Photonics West 2011 in San Francisco, is September 17. Making your application is straightforward: simply point your browser here and fill in the online form*.

All entries are scrutinized by an independent judging panel comprising senior scientists and experts from organizations including Apple, Lockheed-Martin, the US Air Force and MIT. The full panel is available to view here, and will pick the winners in each of eleven new technology categories. The Prism Awards will be presented on 26 January, 2011:

• Defense and Security
• Green Photonics/Energy Efficiency
• Life Sciences and Biophotonics
• Information and Communication
• Optics and Optical Components
• Scientific Lasers
• Industrial Lasers
• Other Light Sources
• Detectors, Sensing, Imaging, and Cameras
• Test, Measurement, Metrology
• Nanophotonics

Winners
For the finalists and winners of the Prism Awards, the rewards are self-evident: many of last year's winners have gone on to great success since picking up their trophies. For example, Light Lab Imaging - winner in the Life Sciences and Biophotonics category last year - was acquired for $90 million just last month by healthcare giant St Jude Medical. LightLab won for its C7-XR optical coherence tomography system, which provides cardiologists with an interior view of coronary arteries.

Another 2009 Prism Award winner to benefit from medical applications was IRPhotonics. The Connecticut company’s iCure spot-curing product won the "Photonic Systems" category. Earlier this month, the iCure system completed qualification and production acceptance with a leading US-based medical device manufacturer, following a six-month evaluation project.

Next year, that commercial success could be the prize that your company gains from entering the competition. For full details on applications, the illustrious judging panel, and past winners, visit the Prism Awards site now - and make sure that you give your company the chance to show off its commercial successes.

* Each entry is subject to a $235 application fee.