Awarding, Enhancing, Advancing

Karen A. Newman, Group Publisher, karen.newman@photonics.com

As I write this, anticipation is building for the announcement of the winners of the 2014 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, presented jointly by SPIE and Photonics Media. By the time you receive this issue, the winners will be posted at the official Prism Awards site, www.photonicsprismaward.com. There also will be a full recap of the winners in the March issue of Photonics Spectra, and you can find complete details at Photonics.com.

And speaking of Photonics.com, be sure to spend some time exploring the new features and other great changes made during the recent site redesign. The site is still your No. 1 resource for research and business news, videos, white papers, the Photonics Dictionary Plus and the Photonics Buyers’ Guide online – only new and improved! Here are some of the ways we changed the site to give you an even better experience:

Speed: The old site just didn’t move fast enough for the way busy people work today. Our Web experts looked at the database structure as a possible reason for that, and totally rebuilt it. Just look at it go now!

Cleanliness: We’re not talking about hand sanitizer and antibacterial soap here, just a new interface design that lets you see all the good stuff you’re looking for without working too hard to find it.

Organization: From anywhere on the site, you can find several ways to navigate to your next location of interest. The Photonics Media publications bar at the top of the page offers a quick way to navigate the main sections and all of our publications, while never losing track of where you are.

In addition, the search function has been improved, allowing you to search the entire site or filter by item type, publication, relevance and most recently posted items; the video gallery has been streamlined so you can see more content at a glance; our complete webinar archive is available for your perusal; and, if you’re looking at new products, there is a form to request information directly from the vendor. Check it out.

Of course, our website is not the only thing being improved these days. In our cover story, contributing editor Hank Hogan reports that work is ongoing on necessary improvements in cost, efficiency and robustness that will take laser communications to the next level. In the feature “Better Lasers, Better Computing,” beginning on page 38, he covers Intel’s work based on the hybrid silicon laser and much more.

Enjoy the issue. I invite your comments at karen.newman@photonics.com.