Feb 11 2010
The Quantum LightTM Optic from QD Vision was named a finalist in the 2010 Edison Best New Product Awards today, the 163rd birthday of renowned inventor Thomas Alva Edison, at a press conference at the legendary Friars Club in New York City. Edison created many of the products and technologies taken for granted today.
The announcement was webcast live by The Discovery Channel, a premier cable TV non-fiction network, at www.discovery.com/edisonawards, where it is archived and may still be seen. At the Friars Club event, presented by Discovery, the list of Edison Finalists was read by Sarah Miller Caldicott, great grandniece of Thomas Edison, co-author of the book, Innovate Like Edison, and chair of the Edison Awards steering committee, and Ben Bailey, host of Discovery Channel’s Cash Cab program.
The Edison Awards, a peer-review honor similar to the Oscars, is voted on by roughly 2,000 members of the not-for-profit Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), America’s top executives and academics. The awards symbolize the persistence and excellence personified by Thomas Alva Edison, inspiring America’s drive to remain in the forefront of innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy. Thomas Edison created four industries without which modern life cannot function. The four, now among the world’s largest, are electric power generation, recorded sound, motion pictures, and electric light bulbs. Edison also made crucial contributions to a host of other industries including the storage battery, telecommunications, cement, chemicals, and mining. Edison Awards are judged on marketplace innovation, marketplace success, technological innovation, market structure innovation, societal impact, and design innovation.
The Quantum LightTM Optic, from QD Vision is a finalist in the Energy & Sustainability category, one of more than 10 categories honored by the Edison Awards. The Quantum LightTM Optic enables LED lighting companies to produce lamps and downlight fixtures that combine the familiar warmth and color of incandescent bulbs with the energy efficiency of LED technology. It marks a breakthrough for LED-based products; by delivering extraordinary color quality, high-power efficiency, manufacturing versatility, and significant cost savings. And, the Quantum Light™ optic avoids the major tradeoffs typical of all other lighting technologies.
“Innovation is more important now than ever, said Caldicott. “The finalists we announced today are the moving parts in the engine of economic growth. They inspire people to think outside the box and improve the lives of people around the world.
"My great, great uncle, Thomas Edison, mastered five different forms of innovation. Most often, we think of technological innovation as the only form of innovation, but actually there are many others. Edison knew this, and drew upon them all.”
The 2010 Edison Awards are sponsored by Discovery Channel, Google, The Nielsen Company (a leader in market research and intelligence best known for Nielsen ratings), and Strategyn, a global leader in innovation management. The Edison Awards are associated with The Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey.