Optical solutions provider JDSU won the award at a presentation made at the conference dinner of the annual holography conference Holopack•Holo-print® in Budapest, Hungary in November for its innovative Holofuse™ system.

The Awards recognise outstanding industry achievement and are presented to organisations who have introduced the most innovative or commercially viable hologram product or technique over the year.

Holofuse™ is a laminate layer for PC ID cards, so it requires no additional card manufacturing stage, and the material bonds at the molecular level. It thwarts ID and passport counterfeiters because the holographic layer is integral and cannot be removed from the rest of the card.

Commended in the same category for its outstanding work was Holostik India Ltd for it highly effective anti-counterfeiting hologram for healthcare products company Vanali, which uses the technology on its herbal oils’ range.

Holostik was also the winner in the ‘Innovation in Holographic Production and OEM Product’ category, this time for its technique for using low optical density (OD) metalizing on holographic embossing without touching the sealing side of PVC. This enables blister packs to be produced primarily for pharmaceutical applications with the hologram on the blister side

This advanced hologram for blister packaging can save time and money in production as it does not require changes to the set up of existing packaging machines. Metalizing also enhances the barrier property of PVC blister film while a high temperature scratch proof coating on the hologram, which can be transparent or coloured, was also praised for its technical excellence.

Also praised in the same category was Optaglio s.r.o. for its new polycarbonate OVmesh™, a perforated metallic holographic patch which is embedded in a laminated PC card. OVmesh™ patches are metal and do not deteriorate under heat and pressure, retaining a high degree of brightness and clarity over a long period.

Another exciting development came from Specialized Enterprise Holography LLC, which has developed a new holographic security feature for potential ID and document applications among others. Its new T.I.G.R.A. (Transparent Interacting Gratings) security device won the ‘Innovation in Holographic Technique’ category following its appearance as part of the design of a special project dedicated to the famous Ukrainian scientist Ivan Pulyui, whose pioneering work contributed to the discovery of X-rays.

T.I.G.R.A. comprises two holograms, each partially demetallised in a pattern of lines, so that when these are mounted together they produce a dynamic moiré pattern. Control of the period and layout of the lines determines the moiré pattern, so that this can be part of the design of the seen image.

Holostik was again commended for its innovative holographic tax stamp for wine producer Pisco Peru Plata.

Organised by the IHMA, the 17th annual Excellence in Holography Awards - sponsored by industry newsletter Holography News® - recognise outstanding industry success and achievement.

The awards go to those organisations that have introduced the most innovative or commercially viable hologram product or technique over the year.

Delegates from the worldwide holography community attended this year’s presentations at the 20th Holopack•Holo-print® conference, held - fittingly - in Budapest, the birthplace of the inventor of the hologram, Denis Gabor.

For the first time, people were able to post their nominations on-line in a move to make voting quicker and easier. The entries were judged by the Board of the IHMA.

A display of products from the winners and runners-up was also on show in Budapest, signalling the breadth and depth of the technology’s applications and commercial span.

Presenting the awards, outgoing IHMA chairman Philip Hudson, said: “This year we have again seen some fantastic entries from international producers, reflecting the breadth and depth of the global holographic industry.

“Innovation and quality were again to the fore and congratulations to the winners for their outstanding contribution to pushing forward the holographic boundaries over the past year.”

The winners and companies that were highly commended were each awarded a special holographic glass trophy, supplied by Hspace of Canada.

The full list of this year’s awards and commendations for outstanding projects is available at www.ihma.org