Photonics Companies Honored

Caren B. Les

Thirteen photonics companies have received Tibbetts Awards, which recognize small firms, projects, organizations and individuals that epitomize the business, economic and technological achievements of the Small Business Innovation Research Program. The federal awards are named for Roland Tibbetts, who founded the research program and was its manager at the National Science Foundation. The honors are an initiative of the Office of Advocacy in the Small Business Administration. Award winners:

AdvR Inc. of Bozeman, Mont., focuses on laser and photonics technology. Among its products are imaging spectrometers, machine vision systems, and potassium titanyl phosphate waveguides and lasers based on them.
H.N. Burns Engineering Corp. of Orlando, Fla., specializes in electro-optics and laser radar technology. By reducing the size of ladar receivers, the company has enabled the miniaturization of precision-guided weapons.
Cutting Edge Optronics of St. Charles, Mo., develops and manufactures custom and industrial lasers as well as laser components. It is now part of TRW.
DeMaria ElectroOptics Systems Inc. of Bloomfield, Conn., now Coherent DEOS, has developed an integrated, compact far-IR laser system, the basis for a new line of terahertz lasers that have a custom operating-control program with a graphical user interface.
Discovery Semiconductors Inc. of Princeton Junction, N.J., designs, manufactures and markets ultrawide-bandwidth fiber optic photodiodes and optical receivers for the optical networking, communications and aerospace markets.
Foster-Miller Inc., Structure and Transportation Group, of Waltham, Mass., has proposed a program to develop a collision-avoidance system display for inner-city bus operators. The drive-vehicle interface technology will provide warnings for forward and side hazards.
Genex Technologies Inc. of Kensington, Md., develops three-dimensional and omnidirectional imaging hardware and software systems. Its 3-D systems include image acquisition, processing, transmission, visualization and volumetric display.
GT Equipment Technologies Inc. of Nashua, N.H., manufactures semicustom and specialty equipment for the photovoltaic and semiconductor industries. Among its products are crystal growth equipment, laser cutters, chamfering machines and semiconductor ingot resistivity testers.
Imaging Systems Technology of Toledo, Ohio, develops electronics and manufacturing processes for high-definition AC plasma displays. Its research in the use of microspheres in a plasma display device may significantly reduce manufacturing time and lead to a large-area display that can be printed on a substrate, allowing roll-to-roll processing.
Integrated Sensors Inc. of New Hartford, N.Y., supplies real- and nonreal-time video-based tracking systems for US Department of Defense programs. Sensors Applica-tions Inc., a spin-off of the company, manufactures image management system solutions.
Laser Fare Advanced Technology Group of Narragansett, R.I., monitors advances in the laser and materials processing industry for potential applications. The company has developed US Air Force high-power semiconductor lasers for industrial marking applications, resulting in the creation of Infinite Photonics Inc. to manufacture the lasers for commercial and government applications.
Sensors Unlimited Inc. of Princeton, N.J., supplies semiconductor diode lasers in the near-IR wavelength range. Its high-power, tunable 828- and 935-nm distributed feedback and Bragg reflector lasers will support NASA's miniature lidar instrument for the remote sensing of atmospheric water vapor on Mars.
Space Photonics Inc. of Fayetteville, Ark., develops and produces optical communications products for the aerospace industry.