'Circle of Excellence' Awards Announced

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 25 -- The following are among winners of Spectra Magazine's 2005 Photonics Circle of Excellence Awards, given annually to the industry's top 25 technically innovative products and in recognition of excellence, innovation and achievement, at an awards ceremony held concurrently with Photonics West.

Bookham New Focus -- New Focus, a division of Bookham Inc., for its TLM-8700 tunable laser module, a high-performance tunable laser packaged in a compact cPCI/PXI module that can be integrated into OEM instruments for spectroscopy, life science and telecommunications test-and-measurement applications. Bookham's optical components, modules and subsystems are used in telecommunications, data communications, aerospace, industrial and military applications.

StockerYale -- StockerYale was recognized for its Cobra 500 LED line illuminator. The company developed the innovative chip-on-board reflective array (COBRA) method for LED module fabrication, a technique that represents a significant improvement in both thermal and optical performance. The COBRA technique, combined with recent technological advances in the LED semiconductor industry, have allowed the company to deliver compact LED-based illuminators that provide more optical power than traditional lighting technologies such as halogen and fluorescent in certain applications. StockerYale, based in Salem, N.H., makes structured light lasers, LEDs, fiber optic and fluorescent illumination technologies and specialty optical fiber and phase masks for use in machine vision, telecommunications, aerospace, defense and security, utilities, industrial inspection and medical markets.

Photonics West 2005 is being held at the San Jose Convention Center through Thursday. (See Photonics.com's daily Photonics West 2005 coverage and photos)