Submissions for the Photonics Innovation Village, a competition to encourage the commercialization of optics and photonics research and technology into useful products, are due Dec. 14, SPIE announced recently. Teams must be able to attend Photonics Europe. The Innovation Village allows each participant team to publicize its new applications and product development at a complimentary “mini-booth” in a high-traffic section of the SPIE Photonics Europe exhibition in the Square Brussels Meeting Centre. The village will be open to all conference (April 14-17) and exhibition (April 15-16) attendees, and winners will be announced during a ceremony on April 16. Awards will be made in three categories, with winners determined by representatives from the European Commission Photonics Unit, SPIE, Photonics21, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a bank or venture capital company, and a large European photonics company. Winners will each receive €1500 (about $2000), and first and second runners-up each will win €500. The Photonics Innovation Village is organized by B-PHOT, the Brussels Photonics Team at VUB, and is supported by SPIE. Awards are sponsored by the Brussels-Capital Region government. Complete application details can be found here.