Dr. John Hamer, chief innovation officer and co-founder of OLEDWorks, will be honored as the recipient of a Special Recognition Award from the Society for Information Display (SID) at next week’s Display Week in San Jose, CA. These awards are conferred to members of the technical and scientific communities for distinguished and valued contributions to the field of electronic displays.
With decades of visionary research and innovation experience, Dr. Hamer has made tremendous contributions in the development of OLED devices for direct-view displays, microdisplays, and lighting.

After earning his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Hamer worked at Eastman Kodak, playing a pivotal role in designing and building the equipment used in the world’s first production line for AMOLED displays on glass substrates.

In 2010, following Kodak’s decision to divest its OLED business, Dr. Hamer co-founded OLEDWorks alongside Dr. Michael Boroson and David DeJoy, retaining the invaluable OLED technology and personnel developed in Rochester and safeguarding its potential for the future.

“John is a remarkable leader whose work on the development of OLED technology has been instrumental to our business’ success and the advancement of the entire industry,” says Dr. Boroson, CTO of OLEDWorks. “I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working closely with John for 33 years, the last 15 as co-founders at OLEDWorks, and I am continually impressed with his innovative and creative solutions.”

As the COO of OLEDWorks, Dr. Hamer has led the development of the microdisplay business segment, applying multi-stack white OLED formulations previously utilized in high-brightness OLED lighting products to microdisplays.

His groundbreaking work in this domain has garnered the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense, leading to substantial funding. Under Dr. Hamer’s leadership, his team has achieved unmatched levels of high brightness microdisplays, with measurements exceeding 100,000 cd/m2 for monochrome green displays.

“It has been wonderful working alongside John to create and expand a U.S.-based microdisplay business at OLEDWorks,” said Ted Ricks, director of research and development (Displays). “His creativity and passion for OLED technology has led our team in developing game-changing microdisplay innovations that deliver on the performance needed for next-gen applications.”

In addition to Dr. Hamer, a second OLED lighting pioneer received a Special Recognition Award this year. Dr. Werner Thomas, project manager OLED Lighting at Audi, was recognized for his contributions to the advancement of OLED lighting within the automotive industry.

His systematic assessment of OLED technology’s requirements for automotive exteriors led to a qualification and development process widely adopted as an industry standard. Under Dr. Thomas’ guidance, OLED technology evolved from a promising innovation into a standard feature, marking a significant shift in the automotive lighting landscape.