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SPIE history
SPIE company history timeline
1955 - On July 1, the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers is founded to specialize in the application of photo-optical instrumentation.
1956 - Incorporated as Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers in the State of California.
1957 - The first SPIE Newsletter is published.
1958 - Karl Fairbanks Memorial Award established.
1959 - A. J. Carr is hired as first full-time executive secretary.
In 1960, Empain acquired a 25 percent stake in another ailing French institution, Schneider & Co.
1960 - The SPIE Newsletter publishes its first group of technical papers.
1962 - The official Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers Journal is launched with an October/November issue.
The SPIE Digital Library is expanded to include the earliest published articles, from 1962.
1963 - SPIE holds its first technical seminar-type conference and publishes its first official proceedings, on image enhancement.
1964 - The Journal is renamed the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers Journal to reflect the Society's formal name change to the "Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers."
1965 - The SPIE Newsletter name is changed to SPIE-GLASS. The number of national SPIE Chapters reaches 15.
In 1966, as France launched a large-scale drive to install a national grid of nuclear power generation facilities, SPIE joined in a consortium to establish Thermatome, dedicated to the engineering and installation of electric systems for the nuclear power industry.
1967 - Demand for technical conferences continues to grow; SPIE meets demand by offering 4 more technical conferences and supporting Proceedings.
1968: SPIE and SCB merge to form Spie Batignolles.
1970 - Journal name changed to Journal SPIE, and SPIE-GLASS is included in Journal.
1971 - Journal name changed to Journal of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Albert M. Pezzuto Award is established to recognize a currently serving or former national officer or director who has given exceptional service to the Society.
Then, in 1972, Spie Batignolles became a major force in the worldwide infrastructure market with the absorption of Empain-Schneider's CITRA unit.
1974 - Rudolf Kingslake Medal and Prize is established for recognition of the most noteworthy paper to appear in Optical Engineering.
1975 - The Society becomes financially viable with income reaching $500,000.
1976 - SPIE holds 27 technical conferences.
1977 - The Gold Medal of the Society Award is established to recognize outstanding engineering or scientific accomplishments in optics, electro-optics, or photographic technologies or applications.
1978 - Educational Fund established to foster educational activities in optical engineering.
In 1981, the company was restructured, and the Empain family lost control of the company, which became known as Schneider.
1981 - To reflect its rapidly changing Membership and fast-paced technology, the Society name is officially defined as SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.
Spie Batignolles itself continued to expand its engineering and infrastructure activities, boosting its electrical contracting wing with the acquisition of a stake in Trindel in 1982.
1983 - The First International Technical Symposium (Geneva, Switzerland) has 1,300 attendees from 26 countries.
Spie Batignolles acquired full control of Trindel in 1984, changing the new subsidiary's name to Spie Trindel.
1984 - OE Reports is launched to provide monthly news and commentary for the optical engineering community.
1985 - Optics Education, the first survey of graduate and undergraduate programs in optics and optoelectronics, is published.
1986 - Two new symposia are introduced, OE/LASE in Los Angeles and Technical Symposium Southeast in Orlando.
In 1987, the company purchased Paris-based construction specialist Société de Construction Générale et de Produits Manufacturés.
1987 - The Society expands its presence in Europe with additional chapters, events, and meetings.
By then, Spie Batignolles had moved to expand its electrical engineering business into the rest of Europe with the 1988 purchase of Belgium's Abay TS.
The company also returned to its roots, acquiring in 1989 the track-laying specialist Drouard, a move that helped launch Spie Batignolles into the fast-expanding high-speed train market.
The SPIE Digital Library is extended back to 1990 and surpasses 200,000 online papers.
The quarterly Journal of Electronic Imaging debuts, co-published by SPIE and IS&T.1991 - Representatives of SPIE and the newly formed European Optical Society (EOS) sign the EUROPTO joint venture agreement, improving international collaboration in organizing optics events in Europe.
1992 - SPIE develops its first fully operational Internet site with plans for a complete online services expansion.
The company boosted its electrical engineering operations again in 1993, when it acquired two Portugal-based companies, OELE and EVALE.
1993 - After 24 years as Executive Director of SPIE, Joe Yaver announces his retirement.
1994 - SPIE offers its first-ever CD-ROM Proceedings at the Electronic Imaging Symposium. spie.org makes its debut.
1995 - SPIE celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The Spie buyout group gained a partner at the end of 1996 when it was joined by the United Kingdom's AMEC plc.
1996 - The Journal of Biomedical Optics is introduced and publishes four quarterly issues.
In 1997, Spie Batignolles acquired Melotte, based in the Netherlands, strengthening its position in that country's electrical engineering market.
1998: Company changes name to Spie S.A.
Spie acquired a controlling stake in Laurent Bouillet, France's leading HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) specialist in 1999.
2001 - In January, oemagazine launches, as a new member publication on optics, photonics, and society news.
In 2001, Spie continued to build up its telecom and IT services, acquiring Matra Nortel Communications Distribution, VDH, based in Belgium, and Export Telecom Services, which became part of a new unit, Spie Communications.
Amec Spie reported revenues of EUR 3.4 billion ($3 billion) in 2002, more than 90 percent of which were generated in Europe (and 70 percent from within France). The addition of Spie will raise AMEC's revenues to £5.5 billion (more than $9 billion).
2003: AMEC plc acquires 100 percent control of Spie, which is regrouped into three independent companies, Amec Spie, Amec Spie Rail, and Spie Batignolles.
2004 - SPIE launches two new events, SPIE Optics East and SPIE Photonics Europe.
2005 - SPIE celebrates its 50th anniversary in San Diego, California, USA, in conjunction with SPIE Optics and Photonics.
2006 - The online SPIE Newsroom and SPIE Professional member magazine are launched.
2007 - SPIE retires its DBA "The International Society for Optical Engineering" to operate as SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.
2008 - The SPIE Digital Library passes the 250,000-article milestone.
2009 - Ron Driggers is named editor of Optical Engineering and Lihong Wang editor of the Journal of Biomedical Optics.
2010 - SPIE Advancing the Laser video series launches anniversary year of the laser.
2011 - SPIE launches mobile applications for the SPIE Field Guide to Geometrical Optics, SPIE Newsroom, and SPIE Conferences.
2013 - A new author-choice open access publishing program for SPIE journals launches with strong participation.
2015 - The United Nations International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL) 2015 is celebrated through the photonics community; SPIE is a Founding Partner and helds a worldwide IYL photography contest.
2016 - SPIE launches inaugural SPIE BioPhotonics Australasia conference.
2017 - Startup, job-type comparisons made for first time in annual photonics salary report.
SPIE celebrates the first International Day of Light on May 16, 2018.
2019 - The SPIE Endowment Matching Program, a $2.5 million educational-funding initiative, launches and the first grant of $500,000 creates the SPIE Chair in Optical Sciences at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona.
SPIE partners with Laser Focus World on the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar starting in 2020 at Photonics West.
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Institute of Physics | 1931 | $14.7M | 369 | 1 |
| American Physical Society | 1899 | $75.0M | 381 | 1 |
| IEEE Foundation | 1973 | $120.0M | 560 | 58 |
| Electrochemical Society | 1902 | $10.0M | 57 | - |
| FTE | 1975 | $5.0M | 30 | 10 |
| Rnb Construction, Inc | - | - | - | - |
| ASQ | 1946 | $50.0M | 200 | 1 |
| ARMA International | 1955 | $1.6M | 12 | 8 |
| The Tau Beta Pi Association | 1885 | $3.8M | 50 | - |
| Electric Power Research Institute | 1972 | $210.0M | 891 | - |
SPIE history FAQs
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SPIE may also be known as or be related to SOCIETY OF PHOTO OPTICAL INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEER, SPIE and Spie.