Molex Incorporated, one of the world’s premier electronic connector companies, won a 2010 Chicago Innovation Award for its Circular MT Expanded Beam Interconnect solution, at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

The need for high reliability and performance in the medical, data, video and telecommunications industries is addressed by this fiber optic interconnect solution.

"Innovation is a top priority at Molex (News - Alert) as we continually strive to develop solutions that address our customers' needs today and in the future,” said Doug Busch, vice president of Molex, in a press release. “Our Expanded Beam Interconnect is a great example of how we develop solutions to meet the specific requirements of the medical and other data intensive industries where connecting and reconnecting optical cables are critical to reduce the risk of application failure. By working closely with our customers, these innovative solutions deliver a significant improvement in application performance.”

A high-density optical interconnect, requiring minimal cleaning while delivering repeatable optical performance over thousands of mating cycles, is offered by Molex’s Circular MT Expanded Beam Interconnect solution. The Expanded Beam MT Interconnects include high-density, front-panel interfaces such as MPO, Array Connector and Circular MT connectors as well as backplane connectors including HBMT and BMTP.

The panel of Chicago Innovation Awards judges, each year, selects the top 10 winners of innovations that uniquely fill unmet needs, spark a competitive response in the marketplace, exceed market expectations, achieve financial success, and improve people's lives. For this 2010 award, the company’s Helieon Sustainable Light Module was also a finalist. Helieon is the first plug-and-play sustainable solid-state lighting module to integrate high-efficiency precision lighting with an easy-to-use socketed solution.

In related news, Molex Incorporated announced that it has shipped its 100 millionth antenna with Laser Direct Structuring technology. Using a 3D laser system, LDS technology allows the transfer of the antenna design from CAD data onto a molded antenna carrier or even directly onto the device structure.