OSA News

The Colorado Photonics Industry Association Presents Annual Awards

The Colorado Photonics Industry Association Presents Annual Awards: CDM Optics Receives Photonics Innovator of the Year Award, and Coherent Technologies, Inc. Receives Photonics Company of the Year Award

Contact:
Silvia Mioc
CPIA President
303-818-1303
silvia@coloradophotonics.org

August 18, 2005, Longmont, CO - The Colorado Photonics Industry Association (CPIA) presented their annual awards for contributions to advancing the photonics industry in Colorado at their quarterly meeting Thursday, August 18.

The Photonics Innovator of the Year award was presented to CDM Optics of Boulder, CO. CDM Optics, formed by technology transfer from the University of Colorado at Boulder , has developed the sophisticated Wavefront Coding technology will lead to improving the depth of field of cell phone cameras. They have been recently acquired by OmniVision Technologies, one of the leading suppliers of image sensors, thus showing great promise for high-volume commercialization of CDM Optics' technology. The award was presented to the founders Dr. Merc Mecure, CEO, Dr. Tom Cathey, President, and Ed Dowski, Vice-President.

The Photonics Company of the Year was presented to Coherent Technologies, Inc., of Louisville, CO. Coherent Technologies, Inc. develops and manufactures laser radar remote sensing systems for enhancing air traffic safety, aerosol detection and various military applications. Coherent Technologies' highly sophisticated electro-optic manufacturing, along with its continued technological innovation in the field of laser radar, has fueled its impressive growth over the past 2 decades. The award was presented to Milton Huffaker, Chairman of the Board, and Paul Reveley, President and CEO.

In addition, CPIA gave two individual awards. The Founder's award was presented to Garry Gorsuch, one of the founders of CPIA in 1997. Garry is the CEO of Meadowlark Optics, and has been continuously active on the CPIA board for since its inception. The Volunteer Award was presented to Debbie Woodward for sustained contributions to CPIA. Debbie is the Administrator of the Adams County One Stop Career Center and has been actively involved with CPIA for more than 7 years.

The awards were presented at the CPIA quarterly meeting around 4 pm on August 18 th , 2005, at CDM Optics, at 4001 Discovery Drive in Boulder .

CPIA (Colorado Photonics Industry Association) is a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the photonics environment in Colorado and globally. By uniting industrial, academic, and governmental objectives, CPIA encourages cooperation, collaboration, and partnering to enable growth and expansion. Founded in 1997, CPIA now includes over 80 members representing strong manufacturing, research, technology, development and governmental programs. With over 260 organizations and companies in the state employing more than 28,000 people who were paid an estimated $2.2 billion in wages, the photonics industry is a multi-faced, vibrant, and important part of Colorado . For more information download the Colorado Photonics directory at www.coloradophotonics.org .

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