Kind greetings to all APOMA members and friends and thank you for reading our November E-News. As we enter the Thanksgiving and holiday season, many of us take time to reflect on what we’re grateful for and look for opportunities to support causes that align with our values.
In that spirit, we want to remind everyone that the Walt Czajkowski Scholarship is still open and accepting donations. This scholarship is truly unique in its flexibility—funds can support a wide range of professional development needs, including helping an incumbent worker upskill, offsetting the cost of attending a conference, or covering a one-time technical class that isn’t part of a degree program. All donations are tax-exempt, and SPIE will match every contribution, doubling the impact of your gift. SPIE, APOMA and the Czajkowski family will participate together in the selection process. To learn more or to donate, please visit the Walt Czajkowski Scholarship pageon the APOMA website.
The nomination period for APOMA’s open At-large Board seat has officially closed. We were thrilled to receive an outstanding response, with twelve highly qualified candidates stepping forward, learn more about this year’s candidates below. Voting will open on December 1, 2025. The designated voting member for each company (one per organization) will receive an email containing the full candidate bios and a secure form to submit their vote. If you are unsure who your company’s voting representative is, please reach out to me atyvette@apoma.organd I’ll be happy to confirm.
On the travel front, I look forward to meeting many of you in person over the coming months. I’ll be in New Hampshire the week of December 8th, attending Arizona Photonics Days (January 16–18, 2026), and of course heading to Photonics West in San Francisco (January 20–24, 2026). I’m excited to continue touring member facilities and strengthening connections across the APOMA community. Remember, if you have one of our new highly coveted APOMA pins, be sure to wear it with pride at any and all conferences and public facing events.
Warmly, Yvette
APOMA 2025 Election update
The following members will be on the ballot in the December 2025 election to fill the APOMA Board of Directors At-large seat. The position term will run from 2026-2027, taking the seat at Photonics West 2026 at the APOMA Annual Meeting.
Gary Andreski, NGL AMERICA
Mitzi Brennan, Pureon
Jim Capelakos, Thorlabs
Michael Feinberg, OptoTech Optical Machinery
Matt Gregoire, Access Optics
Chris Hall, QED Technologies
Tim Olsen, Omega Optical
David O'Ryan, Ecoclean
Mark Palvino, Lightpath Technologies
Shai Shafrir, Corning Tropel
Travis Wood, Lattice Materials LLC
Matt Zabko, Bond Optics LLC
SPIE & APOMA Partner to Deliver a Successful Optifab 2025
SPIE Optifab once again proved why it is the premier event for optical fabrication, drawing attendees from across the globe to Rochester, NY from October 20–23, 2025. Jointly organized by SPIE and APOMA, Optifab remains the largest optical manufacturing conference and exhibition in North America—and the only event co-sponsored by both organizations. This year’s show highlighted the strength of the SPIE–APOMA partnership and the momentum across the precision optics industry. With a strong focus on advanced machinery, metrology, automation, and cutting-edge fabrication technologies, the exhibit hall truly lived up to its reputation as the industry’s “machine shop.”
APOMA members showed up in force, contributing to a dynamic show floor and outstanding press coverage. APOMA Executive Director Yvette Pagano and APOMA President Zach Hobbs (Sydor Optics) were at the opening ceremony, along with Rochester dignitaries such as Mayor Malik Evans, 2025 Symposium Chair Jessica DeGroote Nelson (Edmund Optics, proud APOMA member) and SPIE leadership for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
APOMA held its General Meeting on Wednesday morning before the exhibit hall opened, where—per tradition—we announced the location of the upcoming 2026 Technical Workshop. APOMA President-Elect Tim Kennedy (Edmund Optics), chair of the event, revealed that next year’s workshop will take us to the Kennedy Space Center, October 27–29, 2026. Get ready to space out with APOMA!
Opti-Fabulous Members-Only Party: A Huge Success
In true VIP fashion, APOMA’s members-only Opti-Fabulous Party was an undeniable hit. This year’s theme—“Exhibitor Appreciation: Booth Heroes”—celebrated the people who make the Optifab exhibit hall possible. APOMA bought out Italian Restaurant and Bar, Branca Midtown, for the evening and even hired a bouncer to ensure it stayed strictly members-only. Knowing how exhausting setup day can be, we wanted to give our exhibitors a break—so we provided a full dinner, an open bar, and a relaxed space to unwind and connect. Fun extras included a fortune teller (for anyone curious about how many sales the optics gods had in store) and “fabulous prizes” for our booth heroes. The only challenge? The conversations wereso goodthat it became nearly impossible to hear the prize questions over all the networking—a problem we’re happy to have! The energy, camaraderie, and appreciation in the room truly captured the spirit of APOMA. It was, in every sense, Opti-Fabulous.
Oblate Optics Wins APOMA Optics Innovator Award at Luminate Finals
Luminate—the world’s largest accelerator for startups in optics, photonics, and imaging—is known for awarding its cohort winner a $1 million investment. But in our humble APOMA opinion, the APOMA Optics Innovator Award is the real prize. APOMA created this award to spotlight one standout company from Luminate Cohort 8, recognizing breakthrough innovation with direct relevance to the precision optics community. Our members are already collaborating with Luminate startups as vendors, partners, and early customers, so this award is designed to elevate the next generation of transformational technologies and introduce them to the APOMA ecosystem.
A Multi-Month Judging Process
Selecting the 2025 winner was no small task. APOMA spent months engaging with Cohort 8 across several key events:
Regional Showcase: Business matchmaking event connecting startups with companies such as APOMA members Thorlabs and Viavi Solutions.
Regional Pitch Competition: APOMA President Zach Hobbs spent the day evaluating Cohort 8’s pitches.
Luminate Investor Day (New York City): APOMA Secretary Chris Russell took a final opportunity to assess commercial potential and industry impact.
While it was certainly possible that the APOMA winner and the Luminate grand-prize winner could be the same, this year they were different. Oblate Optics—APOMA’s top choice—finished third overall, earning an additional $200,000 investment along with our Innovator Award. As the APOMA award winner, Oblate Optics will receive:
One year of free APOMA membership.
Free admission to APOMA's 2026 Technical Workshop and a $500 travel stipend.
The APOMA Optics Innovator Award trophy.
Why Oblate Optics Stood Out
Oblate Optics develops next-generation optical solutions by combining AI-optimized meta-lens technology with precision engineering. Their products enable compact, high-performance optical systems for:
laser marking, cutting, and machining
beam shaping and beam manipulation
time-of-flight sensing
extended-depth-of-field imaging
Their technology directly addresses challenges faced by many APOMA members. For example, laser marking in aerospace, automotive, and other high-value industries is straightforward on flat parts—but far more difficult on curved or complex geometries. Oblate’s approach enables high-fidelity marking on round and non-traditional surfaces, helping manufacturers combat counterfeiting and improve traceability. They are also working with the Department of Defense on lighter-weight optical systems and innovations to help reduce dependence on germanium, a topic close to APOMA’s advocacy efforts.
More to Come
A full feature article on Oblate Optics is coming soon, and they will present at the APOMA Annual Meeting during SPIE Photonics West. Please join us in welcoming Oblate Optics to the APOMA family—and congratulating them on their well-deserved recognition.
Yvette Pagano (APOMA), Oblate Optics CEO Paul Herz (center) and Zach Hobbs (right, APOMA/Sydor Optics)
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