CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICISTS

ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES PHYSICIENS ET PHYSICIENNES

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2006 CAP Medal-INO of Outstanding Achievement in Applied Photonics is being awarded to Dr. A.E. Dixon of Biomedical Photometrics Inc., for his contributions in the semiconductor and biomedical fields. It recognizes his innovations in scanning laser imaging technology and confocal laser scanning microscopes.

The 2006 CAP-INO MEDAL FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN APPLIED PHOTONICS is being awarded to A. E.(Ted) Dixon in recognition of his innovative application of photonics to solving practical problems in the semiconductor and biomedical fields. It recognizes his invention and commercialization of innovative confocal scanning laser microscopes. These instruments are novel and allow much faster acquisition of high resolution images, important to quality control and medical diagnosis and therapy. His founding of two photonics companies has led to economic benefits to Canada. Biomedical Photometrics Inc. exports these instruments world wide.

In addition to his position as CEO of Biomedical Photometrics Inc. and GeneFocus™, Dr. Dixon is a Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Waterloo. His research career has focused on the development, and commercial application of scanning laser imaging technology. Dr. Dixon is the author of nine US patents in this area. In 1983 Dr. Dixon formed Waterloo Scientific to commercialize a laser-based scanning-stage semiconductor wafer mapping system. In 1994, Ted was honoured as one of Ontario’s top entrepreneurs by the Ontario Business Journal, for his success in Waterloo Scientific. Philips purchased Waterloo Scientific in 1996, and marketed the technology through Philips Materials Characterisation Systems. Biomedical Photometrics Inc. was founded in 1994 (with Melanie Campbell (UW Optometry) and Brian Wilson (Princess Margaret Hospital)) to commercialize the MACROscope® technology developed in Dr. Dixon’s laboratory at UW. The Company’s new TISSUEscope™, a wide field-of-view confocal fluorescence microscope for imaging tissue and tissue microarrays, received a 2005 Technology of the Year Award from Frost and Sullivan.

The CAP-INO Medal for Achievement in Photonics was first awarded in 1998 and has been awarded biennially since. Dr. Dixon will receive the 2006 Medal during the CAP's awards banquet to be held in St. Catharines on June 13th, 2006.

INO is a private, non-profit R & D corporation founded in 1985 and employing, at its facilities in Sainte-Foy, Québec, over 140 people, including some eighty researchers specialized in the various branches of photonics. To be an international leader in optics and photonics R&D, INO promotes economic expansion in the country by providing assistance to companies seeking to be more competitive.

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics.

For more information, please contact:

Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: (613) 562-5614
Fax: (613) 562-5615
E-mail: cap@physics.uottawa.ca