Founding Partner Jenoptik once again supported the Startup Challenge pitch competition at Photonics West, hosted by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

Taking first place at this year's pitch competition for entrepreneurs was PhotoniCare (Champaign, IL), a medical device company developing an advanced handheld otoscope for the front-lines of medicine. The ClearViewtm is an imaging platform that uses optical coherence tomography to see through tissue to visualize the middle ear and manage middle ear infections, one of the most common diseases in the world. Ryan Shelton accepted the 10,000 USD cash award for first place from Dr. Marc D. Himel, who is an SPIE Fellow and a Director of Business Development for Jenoptik, and Dr. Ralf Kuschnereit, who is Executive Vice President for the Optical Systems division of Jenoptik, on February 1, 2018 (see picture below).

Second place was awarded to CareWear Corp. for their Firefly wearable therapeutic light patch that uses printed LEDs and cadmium free quantum dot film to treat pain and accelerate recovery from soft tissue injury.

The startup Orbis Diagnostics came in third place with their Milk-on-a-Disk. The photonic based micro-fluidic system will help dairy farmers to innovate and protect the health of their herd by providing 'point-of-cow' diagnostics.

At this year's Photonics West from January 30 to February 1, a total of 24 semi-finalists were selected for the competition. The entrepreneurs presented their light-based products to an expert team including Jenoptik director of business development and SPIE Fellow Marc Himel. Six finalists were selected to pitch their business ideas in only a few minutes each.

Founding Partner Jenoptik once again supported this annual competition hosted by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, with cash prizes and expertise. Jenoptik also sponsored the 5,000 USD cash award for second place and 2,500 USD for third place.

At the trade fair in in San Francisco, Jenoptik exhibited various products and solutions for photonics, medical technology and industrial applications, for example new beam expanders and F-theta lenses as well as customized imaging systems, sensors and polymer-based optics.

Photo courtesy of SPIE / Doug Cody, Bay Area Event Photography.

Jenoptik AG published this content on 09 February 2018 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 09 February 2018 12:25:05 UTC.

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