news,” Montgomery said. New developments in the technology and the demand
for more sophisticated and energy-efficient display box lighting are bringing
about change in this market, he said.
For the retail industry, LED/solid-state
lighting has the potential to bring about
significant reductions in energy consump-
tion and maintenance costs, thinner light
boxes that save space, brighter and more
even illumination, and greater compliance with consumer and regulatory
demands for environmentally friendly
retailing.
Caren B. Les
caren.les@laurin.com
Changing of the guard
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Michael
T. Houk, co-founder and vice
president of technology at Bristol Instruments Inc. in Victor,
N. Y., has joined the Editorial
Advisory Board of Photonics
Spectra. He replaces longtime
member William Gornall, a respected industry consultant,
who has retired.
Houk’s current research interests focus on novel wavelength measurement methods,
laser frequency stabilization and Fourier-based spectral analysis.
Before helping to found Bristol Instruments, a developer of optical interferometer-based laser wavelength meters and
laser spectrum analyzers, he was a project
manager and senior optical
engineer for Exfo Burleigh
Products Group Inc., also in
Victor. There, he participated
in the development of more
than 20 interferometer-based
products.
Houk earned a doctorate
in optical engineering from
the Institute of Optics at the
University of Rochester in
New York, where he studied
the design, fabrication and
testing of index gradients in fluoride mate-
rials. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in
physics from Kalamazoo College in
Michigan.
Rebecca C. Jernigan
rebecca.jernigan@laurin.com
The Prism Awards Call for Entries
PITTSFIELD, Mass., and BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Laurin Publishing, producer of Photonics Spectra, and SPIE, the
international society for optics and photonics, are accepting entries for the 2009
Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation
until Sept. 22, 2009.
The Prism Awards, introduced for the
first time in 2008, recognize the best innovative technology in the photonics industry. A panel of 26 independent judges, all
considered industry experts, will select finalists in nine product categories as follows: optics; lasers; other light sources;
detectors, sensing and imaging systems;
analytical, test and measurement; photonics systems; photonics processes; sustainable/green technology; and life sciences.
“Photonics technologies affect nearly
every aspect of life – energy production
and distribution, communications, consumer electronics, medicine, biotechnology, manufacturing, analysis of climate
change, and security, to mention a few,”
said Eugene
Arthurs, CEO
of SPIE. “The
Prism Awards
program is one
way we are
helping to accelerate innovation and
move technology to market.
We are pleased
to honor and
promote the technological creativity and
vision represented by these entries.”
Last year 130 entries were submitted, of
which 67 were tapped as finalists for the
global competition. Ultimately, 10 winners
representing three nations were chosen,
and the awards were presented at Photon-
