Benedikt Schuhbauer achieved second place with his presentation "Monolithic thulium-based nonlinear fiber amplifier delivering high energetic pulses". Nils Haverland was honored with third place for his presentation „CO2 laser-inscribed cladding light stripper with homogeneous stripping and attenuation >37dB“. The awards come with prize money of $500 and $300, respectively. 

The award-winning work was conducted as part of their respective research projects at Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. in the Laser Development Department. SPIE Photonics West is the world's largest annual conference in optics and photonics.