Biennial. The objective of this award is to recognize outstanding contributions in applied photonics. This prize is intended to acknowledge innovative applications of photonics to solve practical problems, leading to economic benefits (for example, the development of a new instrument based on photonics, devices that accomplish new functions, etc.). The innovation must be commercializable or, at the least, exploitable. The National Optics Institute (INO) and the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) introduced this biennial joint medal in 1998. The medal is not limited to CAP members but the candidates’ research/instrumentation development should have been undertaken in Canada or in affiliation with a Canadian organization.