Edmund Optics announced the finalists for its 2013 Research & Innovation Award Program. More than 800 applications were received from 60 countries around the world. Once again, this year Edmund Optics will be awarding grants totaling over $85,000 USD in Edmund Optics products to the winners.

Fifteen finalists were selected from the regions the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The actual three winners of each region of this year's Research & Innovation Award will be announced on September 4, 2013. The next step will then be the selection for the Norman Edmund Inspiration Award honoring one of the winning projects which best embodies the legacy of Edmund Optics' founder, Norman Edmund. It will be awarded with an additional $5,000 USD in products on October 9, 2013.

The 45 hopeful finalists, representing 21 different countries, submitted applications ranging from developing handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) probes for non-invasive diagnostics in primary healthcare to real-time optical detectors for airborne asbestos detection. Finalists can look forward to joining EO's elite group of grant recipients who continue to accelerate optical innovation.

The difficult task of selecting the winners of this year's program from so many worthy finalists lies now ahead for EO's global award team. The team will select three winners for each region, the Americas, Asia, and Europe respectively, based on the technological value, the innovativeness of the application, in particular in relation to the use of optics, and the relevance to everyday life.