19^th annual award honors exceptional new products transforming light-based technologies

SPIE, the international society of optics and photonics, invites the optics and photonics community to apply for this year’s SPIE Prism Awards, which recognize outstanding new products making waves on the market. Honorees will be announced at the highly-anticipated award ceremony on 3 February 2027 at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, California.

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SPIE Prism Awards honor exceptional new products transforming optics and photonics technologies.

These awards, dubbed the “Oscars of Photonics,” provide scientists and engineers in the optics and photonics industry the opportunity to showcase their contributions to the field. Finalists and winners receive extensive print, web, and onsite promotion at SPIE Photonics West, which draws more than 22,000 researchers and industry leaders every year.

“The Prism Awards are recognized across the optics and photonics industry,” says Rob Devlin, co-founder and CEO of Metalenz, which won the Prism Awards Cameras and Imaging category in 2023 and 2026 for their products PolarEyes™ and Polar ID, respectively. “[Winning] helped Metalenz reach potential customers and partners outside of our existing channels.”

In 2025, the Prism Award in the biomedical category went to Norlase for their product, LYNX, a pattern scanning laser indirect ophthalmoscope. Oliver Hvidt, CEO and co-founder of Norlase says, “For a company deeply rooted in photonics, the Prism Award is one of the highest honors we could achieve. It gave our underlying technology a strong layer of industry credibility. Since Photonics West 2025, LYNX has proven its value in the clinic, becoming one of the fastest medical devices ever to be adopted by all of the top five eye hospitals in the world.”

Announced alongside the Prism Awards is the SPIE Catalyst Award, now in its third year. This recognition honors for-profit companies for specific programs they offer that make a significant positive workplace, environmental, or societal impact. The 2026 Catalyst Award winner was Cerca Magnetics Limited for their Quantum OPM-MEG, a brain scanner that relies on quantum enabled sensors to track development of brain function in children who have been identified as having a greater chance of developing autism because they have siblings with the condition.

Finalists for this year’s Prism Awards will be announced on 4 November 2026. A panel of distinguished experts will judge those finalists, with winners in nine categories being announced at the awards ceremony.

Applications to apply for the Prism Awards are open now and, close 11 September 2026. For full details and to submit your product for consideration, visit SPIE Prism Awards.

About SPIE

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, brings engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals together to advance light-based science and technology. The Society, founded in 1955, connects and engages with our global constituency through industry-leading conferences and exhibitions; publications of conference proceedings, books, and journals in the SPIE Digital Library; and career-building opportunities. Over the past five years, we have invested more than $26 million in the international optics community through our advocacy and support, including scholarships, educational resources, travel grants, endowed gifts, and public-policy development. Learn more about us at spie.org. Follow SPIE on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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Photonics innovators worldwide are invited to enter their new products that are transforming light-based technologies and compete for the SPIE Prism Awards.