A non-invasive imaging tool that looks deep into the brain and sensors to detect pollutants or explosives in the atmosphere are among the technologies selected as finalists for the 2013 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation.
The annual Prism Awards recognise photonic products that break with conventional ideas, solve problems, and improve life through the generation and harnessing of light. The winners will be announced by industry leaders on 6 February during the SPIE Photonics West show in San Francisco.
‘Each year the quality of entries is higher and the competition keener,’ said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. ‘The awards celebrate the wide reach of photonics as an enabling technology and the innovation power of our community. Photonics inventions help create valuable new jobs in communications, healthcare, security, manufacturing, and entertainment.’
Finalists include Teradiode, IPG Photonics, Continuum, AFL, Javelin, Tornado Spectral Systems and TAG Optics. The US government’s National Research Council’s report Optics and Photonics, Essential Technologies for Our Nation notes that in the US, public companies focused on optics and photonics create more than $3 trillion of all public company revenues and 7.4 million of public company jobs.
