30-Year Nanoimprint Awards
To commemorate three decades of Nanoimprint and its transformative impact, NNT 2025 recognized pioneers, visionary supporters, and industry leaders across four award categories.
1. 30-Year Nanoimprint Grand Achievement Award
The highest honor, presented to individuals and organizations whose contributions have profoundly advanced and transformed Nanoimprint technology and its applications. Awardees (details below): Stephen Y. Chou, Lars Montelius, Grant C. Willson, Nanonex Corporation, Obducat AB, Molecular Imprints Inc./Canon, and EV Group.
2. 30-Year Nanoimprint Pioneers Award
Honors the first believers and developers who, during Nanoimprint’s early and uncertain years, helped establish and advance the field amid broad skepticism and major technical challenges. The award was presented to 46 recipients, including six of the seven Grand Achievement Awardees.
3. 30-Year Nanoimprint Visionary Supporter Award
Honors individuals and funding agencies that provided pivotal early financial support when Nanoimprint’s paradigm-shifting concept faced widespread skepticism and resistance. Awardees include the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Larry Cooper (Office of Naval Research, ONR) and ONR for their support in 1995; R. Fabian Pease (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA) and DARPA for establishing in 1997 the world’s first national funding program dedicated to Nanoimprint; Ramon Compano (European Commission) for initiating the first European Nanoimprint funding program in 1998; and Dan Herr (Semiconductor Research Corporation, SRC) and SRC for their timely support of Nanoimprint research.
4. 30-Year Nanoimprint Industry Application Breakthrough Award
Honors companies that have developed transformative Nanoimprint applications across industries such as displays, AR/VR, smart glasses, smartphones, meta-optics, gene sequencing, biosensing, semiconductor ICs, AI, and security/authentication—creating products that collectively have generated multi-billion-dollar annual revenues and delivered major economic and societal benefits. The award was presented to “Anonymous,” as the companies have chosen to remain unnamed; the plaque was inscribed accordingly. Their names will be announced once they choose to be publicly identified.
30-Year Nanoimprint Grand Achievement Award
Stephen Y. Chou
Princeton University, USA
Award Citation: For transformative contributions to Nanoimprint over the past three decades—particularly inventing Nanoimprint; launching, leading, shaping, and advancing its development and applications; founding pioneering Nanoimprint companies spanning equipment, solutions, and applications; and creating breakthrough inventions that overcame critical barriers, generating visionary directions for the field; and opened new field and opportunities—all delivering lasting impact on science, industry, and society worldwide.
Lars Montelius
Lund University, Sweden
Award Citation: For transformative contributions to Nanoimprint over the past three decades—particularly as one of the first researchers to adopt and further advance the technology; for initiating Obducat as an early commercial provider of Nanoimprint equipment and solutions, making the technology practical and accessible; and for pioneering developments in nanophotonics and nanofabrication, leading major European Nanoimprint initiatives, and serving as a key driving force in the NNT Conference and the global Nanoimprint community.
Grant C. Willson
The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Award Citation: For transformative contributions to nanoimprint over the past three decades—particularly, pioneering step-and-flash and jet-and-flash nanoimprint tools for semiconductor IC manufacturing, their development, and their commercialization through the founding of Molecular Imprints Inc.
Nanonex Corporation
USA
Award Citation: For transformative contributions to nanoimprint—particularly, as one of the first nanoimprint companies, providing complete solutions—including tools, masks, resists, processes, and services—from the infancy of the field through its 30 years, thereby significantly enabling the widespread adoption and advancement of nanoimprint technology, as well as the development and commercialization of nanoimprint applications and nanoimprinted products.
Obducat AB
Sweden
Award Citation: For transformative contributions to Nanoimprint—particularly, as one of the first nanoimprint companies, providing tools and services from the infancy of the field through its 30 years, thereby having significantly enabled the widespread adoption and advancement of nanoimprint technology, as well as the development and commercialization of nanoimprint applications and nanoimprinted products.
Molecular Imprints Inc./Canon
USA and Japan
Award Citation: For transformative contributions to Nanoimprint—particularly through the pioneering, development, and commercialization of high-volume semiconductor IC manufacturing tools.
EV Group
Austria
Award Citation: For transformative contributions to Nanoimprint—particularly through pioneering, development, and commercialization of high-volume manufacturing tools that have enabled worldwide industrial deployment and advancement of Nanoimprint.
30-Year Nanoimprint Pioneer Award
Award Citation: For pioneering and significant contributions to Nanoimprint
Names listed alphabetically
30-Year Nanoimprint Visionary Supporter Award
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
USA
Award Citation: For visionary first funding of nanoimprint, through a Packard Fellowship to its inventor, which played a crucial role in launching the field.
Larry Cooper
Former ONR, USA
Award Citation: For vision, courage, and providing one of the first funding supports for nanoimprint in its infancy—when the field was emerging and not yet widely accepted—greatly enabling its growth and advancement.
Office of Naval Research (ONR)
USA
Award Citation: For vision, courage, and providing one of the first funding supports for nanoimprint in its infancy—when the field was emerging and not yet widely accepted—greatly enabling its growth and advancement.
R. Fabian Pease
Stanford University, USA
Award Citation: For the visionary, courage, and the world’s first major national funding program for Nanoimprint in its infancy—at a time when the field was just emerging and was facing widespread skepticism and resistance—greatly enabling the growth and development of the field and its industry.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
USA
Award Citation: For the visionary and critical support in launching the world’s first major national funding program for Nanoimprint in its infancy—at a time when the field was just emerging and was facing widespread skepticism and resistance—greatly enabling the growth and development of the field and its industry.
Ramon Compano
European Commission
Award Citation: For vision, courage, and providing one of the first European funding supports for nanoimprint in its infancy—when the field was emerging and not yet widely accepted—greatly enabling its growth and advancement.
Dan Herr
Former SRC, USA
Award Citation: For visionary early funding of nanoimprint in its infancy—when the field was emerging and not yet widely accepted—greatly enabling its growth and development.
Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)
USA
Award Citation: For visionary early funding of nanoimprint in its infancy—when the field was emerging and not yet widely accepted—greatly enabling its growth and development.
30-Year Nanoimprint Industry Application Breakthrough Award
