Lightwave International was recognized with six awards at the 2009 ILDA (International Laser Display Association) conference.  Five of these awards fall in the Artistic Awards category, while the sixth was a technical award.  This makes nine total ILDA awards won by Lightwave in the past year alone.

The ILDA Awards, bestowed each year to honor companies and individuals around the world for achievements in laser light, are the Oscars of the laser industry.  The artistic category covers all areas of laser display, including huge shows to laser graphics.  On the technical end, ILDA gives the Fenning Award for advancements in laser technology.  In 2009, ILDA received 112 entries from 19 companies for consideration.

Lightwave was granted six awards; five in the artistic category, and one Fenning award for technical achievement.  Add these six to the three awards gained last fall, and Lightwave has received a total of nine ILDA awards in the past year alone.

The 2009 ILDA awards won by Lightwave International are as follows:

Live Stage Performance - First Place - "3D Laser Prism, 2008 Dark Side of the Moon World Tour"
The 2008 Tour featured numerous power, control and visual upgrades over the 2007 effect. The intent of the laser sculpture, the iconic prism with entering laser and exiting rainbow, was to recreate the album artwork from "Pink Floyd- The Dark Side of the Moon" as originally designed by Strom Thorgerson as a three-dimensional artform.

Live Stage Performance - Second Place - "Ghostland Observatory"
Ghostland Observatory is a relatively new band that has developed a huge and loyal worldwide fan base by delivering no-compromise performances. This was achieved largely through the use of lasers - and lots of them - at their live shows. This band often has 40-100W of laser power on stage at any show, and achieves the look and feel of a band much larger and more experienced.

Nightclub / Disco Show - Second Place - "Girl Talk"
GirlTalk is a live musical performance with an emphasis on live lighting and lasers: one laser operator, one computer, and big results. All songs were performed live with no knowledge or preparation of song queue.

Laser Photography - First Place - "Caution: Laser Radiation!"
Safety experts love to pair the words "laser" and "radiation" together. Radiation evokes fear in a primitive and uncontrollable way, but these feelings belong to non-ionizing radiation more so than lasers. These signs belong in the average American basement to accompany the ionizing and dangerous radon gas that exists nearly everywhere in the world. A reading lamp emits radiation if classified the same as our entertainment lasers. But what if lasers DID emit ionizing radiation? Well, you would need to don some fancy protective laser gear. Caution! Laser Radiation!

Laser Photography - Honorable Mention - "Laser Eclipse"
This photo was a magic combination of exposure that resulted in balanced detail in the prism, video screen (where the moon details still show), and the stage and audience detail is not corrupted. Cell phones are seen in the audience, along with lighters and the cloud of fog that was hovering just upstage of the effect. This was a once-in-a-lifetime photo.

Fenning Award for Technical Achievement - Third Place (Tie) - 3D Laser Projector (Magnetic Beam)
The magnetic beam projector uses a revolutionary new technique to create seemingly impossible nonlinear volumetric 3D abstracts in mid-air.  The designs not only vary on two axis as with traditional projectors, but the projector also has additional control over the placement of ‘light solids’ along the Z axis. The 3D laser projector is manufactured by Arctos in Germany.

Three companies gathered six awards for 2009, the most given to any company, which ties Lightwave for first place for total awards received.

Last fall, Lightwave won three 2007 ILDA awards (there are no 2008 awards thanks to a restructuring of the award season - thus, 2007's awards were presented in 2008).