Rigaku Raman Technologies, a leading pioneer of handheld and portable Raman spectrometers, is delighted to announce that its handheld Raman analyser, Progeny™ has received the Bronze Award for the Portable Analytical Instrument Industrial Design category in the 2014 Instrument Business Outlook (IBO) design awards.

Progeny represents the new generation in handheld Raman analysis for comprehensive material identification and analysis across applications, including raw material identification in the pharmaceutical industry and chemical detection for first responders.

The annual IBO awards recognise excellence in the industrial design of analytical instruments, portable analytical instruments and laboratory equipment. Judged on innovation, functionality and product features, the winners were selected based on designs that improve product functionality and the end-user experience. In the Portable Analytical Instrument Industrial Design category, winning products were not only chosen for being compact and stylish but also how they address the unique challenges of doing analysis outside of the laboratory.

Progeny is designed to provide superior performance, design and usability for the identification of unknown materials. Weighing just 3.5lbs, Progeny’s lightweight aluminum housing is sealed against moisture, dust and other potential contaminants to prevent contamination and enable use in any environment with an IP-68 protection rating.

The ergonomics of the instrument were carefully considered to provide a comfortable user experience and Progeny’s user-friendly angled display, touchscreen interface provides easy, single-hand use. Compared to other handheld Raman analysers, Progeny provides enhanced performance capabilities for the measurement of coloured materials or through dark containers by eliminating fluorescence interference with the use of a unique 1,064nm laser.

Rigaku Raman Technologies VP and general manager Bree Allen commented on the award win: "We are delighted that Progeny has been recognised with this prestigious award.

"With Progeny, we exceeded all of our initial expectations by redefining the performance, ruggedness and ease-of-use that can be experienced when using handheld Raman for material identification. Rigaku Raman is committed to setting new benchmarks in Raman spectroscopy. With Progeny, we have developed a product that we believe will revolutionise what can be achieved with handheld Raman across a multitude of applications."

Rigaku Raman Technologies will be showcasing Progeny, the world’s first customisable handheld Raman analyser, at CPhI Worldwide, which will be on 7 – 9 October. If you would like to experience the difference with Progeny please visit booth 1C82 at the event. Meetings can be booked in advance by emailing sales@rigakuraman.com.