Optiphase Wins $1.1 Million NIST TIP Award

VAN NUYS, Calif., Jan. 12, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Optiphase, Inc. announced
today that it has been selected to participate in a National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) Technology Innovation Program (TIP) to develop
advanced sensing technologies that enable timely and detailed monitoring and
inspection of the structural health of bridges, roadways and water systems that
comprise a significant portion of the nation's public infrastructure.

The project involves the development of an innovative fiber optic monitoring
system for large public structures such as bridges, waterways or pipelines that
substitutes a single optical fiber sensing cable for hundreds of discrete, local
strain or fracture sensors. Optiphase's blueprint calls for the use of
distributed sensors (the entire fiber length is the sensor) and low-cost
standardized fiber optic assemblies. The approach leverages naturally occurring
scattering light phenomenon in fiber optic cable, coupled with the highest
possible resolution method available (interferometric), to yield the
breakthrough required -- concurrent dynamic and static, high-resolution
measurements of large structures. This system could also scale to form an
interstate civil structure grid, providing remote monitoring and highly precise
real-time data analysis of structural conditions.

The system seeks to break the existing spatial and strain resolution barriers of
today's sensors and offers both static and dynamic measurements in a cost
effective manner for large public works structures. This will enable agencies to
instrument large structures for real-time, high-resolution monitoring of the
public works infrastructure for detection of cracks, large deformations, dynamic
overloads, and other critical structural conditions.

The $1.1 million NIST award to Optiphase is matched by company funds and covers
a 3-year period. Optiphase partners Redfern Integrated Optics, Inc. (RIO) of
Santa Clara, CA and the University of Illinois at Chicago Head of Civil
Engineering, Dr. Farhad Ansari, were also awarded NIST funding in order to
address the system challenge in a comprehensive manner. Total funding of $4
million for the project is provided to the partners from NIST via joint venture
Distributed Sensor Technologies, Inc.

Details of the NIST TIP announcement for the Civil Infrastructure award can be
found at:
http://tipex.nist.gov/tippb/prjbriefs/prjbrief.cfm?ProjectNumber=080019

About Optiphase, Inc.

Optiphase, Inc. is a leading provider of interferometric fiber optic sensor
solutions. Products include instruments, assemblies and components serving the
scientific, technical and commercial community. These include interrogators, OCT
Optical Modules, demodulators, fiber stretchers, interferometers and tunable
converters. Optiphase also partners with system integrators (OEMs) supplying
semi-custom systems solutions for a variety of industry applications such as oil
& gas production, security, civil structure monitoring and OCT medical devices.
For more information, please visit www.optiphase.com.

About RIO Inc.

Redfern Integrated Optics, Inc. (RIO) develops and manufactures optical
transmitters based on its proprietary planar external cavity laser technology
(PLANEXTM), which delivers unique price-performance advantages in multiple
markets. RIO's product lines include 1550nm single frequency narrow line width
lasers with very low noise and long-reach 2.5-10 Gbps directly modulated
transmitters, with DWDM wavelength stability, at low cost, small size and with
low power dissipation. For more information, please visit www.rio-inc.com.

About University of Illinois at Chicago

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and
is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 15 colleges and the
state's major public medical center. UIC's Department of Civil and Materials
Engineering awards degrees through the Ph.D. level, providing an
interdisciplinary educational approach that prepares students for successful
careers in business, government and academia. The department's Laboratory for
Smart Sensors and Non-destructive Testing (see:
http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/cme/research/ssndtl/index.html ) conducts research
to develop advanced technologies such as fiber optic sensors that monitor
structural health. For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu

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CONTACT: Optiphase, Inc.
Jeff Bush
818-782-0997
Fax: 818-782-0999
jbush@optiphase.com
www.optiphase.com