(L to R) NFOS president Bob Russo, College Bowl winner Zachary McDaniel, program director at Roane State Community College Rebecca Morton and Cheri Guy, manager of professional services for Hoya Vision Care.

LEWISVILLE, Texas—Students from eight schools participated in this past weekend’s National Federation of Opticianry Schools (NFOS)/Hoya College Bowl at OptiCon @ Vision Expo. Ophthalmic lens technology leader Hoya Vision Care sponsored the event Saturday evening at OptiCon at Vision Expo East. Zachary McDaniel from Roane State Community College was this year’s winner of the competition, which was attended by about 300 people, according to a Hoya Vision Care announcement. “Working with the NFOS has been a terrific opportunity for Hoya to connect with the schools of opticianry and students,” Hoya Vision Care, North America, chief marketing officer Grady Lenski said in the announcement.

“We are looking forward to a long-term relationship and an even bigger event next year.”

OptiCon @ Vision Expo East is the new home to the NFOS/Hoya College Bowl, which was preceded by a pre-game reception in the EyeMax Theater at the Javits Center. Every attendee at the completion of the NFOS College Bowl received 1 ABO or NCLE credit.

The new sponsorship agreement was announced by the organizations in January, as VMAIL reported. The NFOS/Hoya College Bowl is a competition modeled on “Jeopardy” and features questions in anatomy and physiology of the eye, ophthalmic dispensing, ophthalmic fabrication, contact lenses and optics.

In addition to school bragging rights and the NFOS trophy being displayed for a year at the winning college, the winner took home a $500 first-place prize.