At this year's Laser World of Photonics, exhibiting companies and start-ups will be recognised for their innovative designs and technologies.
For the first time, the Innovation Award will be presented to honour the best product premieres by exhibitors, while the Start-Up Award, now being presented for the third time, is directed at young entrepreneurs offering innovative solutions.
The prizes are worth €5,000 each and are being awarded in collaboration with British publishing house Europa Science, of photonics titles Electro Optics, Imaging and Machine Vision Europe, and Laser Systems Europe.
The closing date for submissions is 29 March. A top-quality jury - including the heads of the Optical Society, Spectaris, and Toptica - will select the finalists for both the Start-Up Award and Innovation Award, and the announcement of the winners and presentation of the awards will take place during Laser World of Photonics from 24 to 27 June.
A sensor capable of measuring more than 20 vital patient signs non-invasively developed by Israeli-Spanish-American team from ContinUse Biometrics won the Start-Up Award at Laser World of Photonics 2017.
'The Start-Up Award contestants are living proof just how many innovative ideas are being generated by photonics. Which is why it isn’t just the established Start-Up Award being conferred at Laser World of Photonics 2019 but the Innovation Award as well. This enables us to give innovation an even bigger platform', said Katja Stolle, the trade fair’s Exhibition Director.
The application categories for the Start-Up Award and Innovation Award are:
- Laser & Optoelectronics / Lighting and Energy
- Optics
- Laser & laser systems in production engineering
- Biophotonics & Medical Engineering
- Imaging / Sensors, Test and measurement technology and Optical measurement systems
- Manufacturing technology for optics
- Optical information and communication
- Security
The Awards’ judges are:
- Dr Markus Bartram, Picolas GmbH
- Jonathan Blackburn, Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) / TWI Ltd
- Dr Wilhelm Kaenders, Toptica Photonics
- Professor Peter Loosen, Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology
- Jürgen Niederhofer, Newport Spectra-Physics
- Dr Andreas Olmes, High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
- Dr Andreas Popp, Trumpf Lasertechnik
- Professor Jürgen Popp, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology Jena
- Gregory Quarles, The Optical Society (OSA)
- Dr Ronald Sroka, LIFE-Center, Hospital of University Munich
- Professor Falk Strascheg, Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE)
- Dr Wenko Süptitz, Spectaris
- Professor Andreas Tünnermann, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering
- Professor Paul Urbach, TU Delft
