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Theoretical breakthroughs in physics often have an immediate impact on the theory community, or are solving already 'big' problems (QED, QCD, etc). These tend to be recognized very quickly.

Engineering breakthroughs tend to take a bit longer to be recognized because determining whether they are significant takes much longer. There is a necessary grace period to see whether the breakthrough actually has impact.

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Agreed, though you'd have to have been living under a rock not to be aware of the huge impact of fiberoptics even a decade ago. Mr Kuo made his discovery in 1996 and retired in 1996. I wish they would try to be a bit more timely with these things; sometimes it feels like 'oops, that guy is really old now - we'd better give him the prize before he passes away'. Oh well - I'm glad to see these advances recognized, since I use both CCDs and fiberoptics on a regular basis.

True, but is it more or less important than discovering superfluidity in a helium isotope (1996 prize)? There are plenty of candidates, and waiting lists tend to be long.

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