Colorado Photonics industry association’s annual university meeting

The Colorado Photonics Industry Association (CPIA) will name Boulder-based LongPath Technologies as the 2021 Colorado Photonics Company of the Year and Longmont-based Momentum Optics as the Colorado Photonics Innovator of the year. The awards will be presented October 20, 2020, at the CPIA Annual Meeting held on the University of Colorado, Boulder. Featured speakers include Justin Ging, Chief Commercial Officer for Honeywell Quantum Solutions, and Phil Makotyn, Executive Director for the University of Colorado CUBit Quantum Initiative. They will speak on the future of quantum technologies and photonics in Colorado and their potential impact to our economy and employment landscape.

CPIA presents the Photonics Company of the Year award to the business or institution that has contributed greatly to the growth and prosperity of the Colorado photonics industry. LongPath Technologies is the first company to leverage Nobel prize winning long-range frequency comb laser sources to achieve dramatic cost reductions for continuous emissions monitoring.

LongPath’s continuous emissions monitoring services have already enabled major methane emission reductions in the oil and gas sector with partners in the productive U.S. Permian and Denver Julesberg Basins. Under Basin-SCAN, this progress will be amplified to provide measurable impacts on U.S.-wide emissions. Accepting the award for LongPath Technologies will be Dr. Greg Rieker, Co-Founder and CTO.

CPIA presents the Photonics Innovator of the Year award to the business or institution that has done, and continues to do, pioneering work in the area of optics and photonics. Momentum Optic’s advanced manufacturing technology is addressing the market need for high-quality, affordable, glass optics by reducing production costs by 10x and increasing throughput by 5-10x.

In addition, the technology enables optical integration with electronics and micro-mechanical systems at the wafer-level. Improved systems integration addresses the unmet needs of many designers creating next-generation products that must conform to smaller form-factors, reduce weight, achieve greater aesthetic appeal, and improve imaging performance. Accepting the award for Momentum is Dr. Sourangsu Banerji, Lead Optical Engineer.