Tournament crowns new champions

Now in its fifth year, the Esco Optics Beer Pong Tournament concluded with a dazzling final matchup to crown our 2019 champions. The field of play started with 30 teams ranging from rookies to veterans but it was Jonathan Sydor of Sydor Optics and Pat Bechtold of OptiPro that took home the championship belts! The winning duo was able to dethrone past champions Chris Ghio of Ohara and Bill Hill of Esco Optics in the quarterfinals. Our winners will have a full year to boast and wear their hard-earned hardware until they defend their title in 2020. Even though Chris Russell of Universal Photonics and newcomer Joelle Brunetto of Idex Corporation were defeated in the championship game, Brunetto’s outstanding play earned her the prestigious tournament MVP award.

This year our master of ceremonies, Austin Powers, kept the atmosphere groovy for all attendees. 2019’s play was the speediest on record, allowing for time at the conclusion of the awards ceremony to catch up with friends and colleagues.  Though this event can make for a tricky morning of trade show duty, many enjoyed the time to meet new companies and team members in the optics and photonics industry.  We want to thank everyone for making this our best year yet!  There truly is no other event like the Beer Pong Tournament at Photonics West!

A tremendous thank you to all of our sponsors and volunteers who helped to make this year a success. 

Universal Photonics
Ohara
OptiPro
Schott
OptoTech
Baker Hostetler Law
Photonics Media
Colorado Thin Films
Treibacher Industrie AG
GNP Ceramics

Volunteers: Bridget Perch of S.I. Howard Glass, Susan Pegg of S.I. Howard Glass, Don Pegg, April Plouffe, Brenda Ghio, and the masterful Diane Schulmerich.