Catalyst Award
The Catalyst Award is given to a company making significant social or environmental impact; this award recognizes outstanding programs supporting equity, diversity and inclusion, community outreach and education, or environmental impact.
2025 Winner
SCHOTT AG
100% Hydrogen Optical Glass Production
SCHOTT successfully tested how glass can be melted with 100 percent hydrogen.
SCHOTT’s project aims to decarbonize optical glass production by replacing natural gas with 100% hydrogen fuel, significantly reducing CO2 emissions. Over six years of research, the project progressed from small-scale trials to full-scale production, achieving seamless transitions to hydrogen while maintaining high glass quality. A major milestone included a continuous three-day production run using hydrogen without any negative impact on product properties. This innovation proves hydrogen’s feasibility as a clean energy source for high-temperature processes and sets a precedent for other energy-intensive industries. Challenges with green hydrogen availability persist, but SCHOTT’s model paves the way for sustainable industrial practices.
schott.com
SPIE CATALYST AWARD FINALISTS
SCHOTT AG: 100% Hydrogen Optical Glass Production
Thorlabs, Inc.: Thorlabs Photonics Learning
Vacuum Innovations: Vacuum Innovations' Optical Coating Design & Technology Education
2024 Winner
Intel Corporation
Innovative and Inclusive Semiconductor Workforce Development Programs: QuickStart and Returnships
Intel’s inclusive workforce development programs welcome those that take a career break or show capability after two weeks of accelerated training.
Addressing expected workforce shortfalls and in partnership with local community colleges, workforce, and community groups, QuickStart, a unique 40-hour, hands-on training program with wrap-around services was created. Classes are taught at local community colleges. Once students successfully complete it, they are eligible to interview for entry-level manufacturing positions. The program has goals of recruiting and training individuals including, in part, those who have been historically underrepresented in the technology industry: women, people of color, and rural residents. In addition, a program was created specifically for enabling experienced individuals with a voluntary career break to return to the workforce via specific openings for those “returning.”
intel.com
SPIE CATALYST AWARD FINALISTS
Ball Aerospace: GEMS (Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer) and TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution)
Intel Corporation: Innovative and Inclusive Semiconductor Workforce Development Programs: QuickStart and Returnships
Thorlabs, Inc.: Thorlabs Mobile Photonics Lab Experience
More about the 2024 winner and finalists: SPIE Catalyst Award finalists Intel, Thorlabs, and Ball Aerospace showcase EDI, outreach, sustainability programs