Title: Director of Innovation and Technical Design
Company: Crane Currency
Location: Woodstock, Georgia, United States
Samuel Cape, director of innovation and technical design at Crane Currency, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Engineers for dedication, achievements, and leadership in technology, security, and mathematical and optical modeling.
For the last 20 years, Mr. Cape has established an esteemed career in technology with a focus on optical design and banknote security. This journey began in 2005 with a five-year tenure as manager of optical design at Nanoventions. In this role, Mr. Cape gained experience in developing technology related to anti-counterfeiting. These measures can include hidden images, holograms, authentication codes and other methods of ensuring the legitimacy of an item or product.
Concurrently with that initial opportunity, Mr. Cape joined Crane Micro-Optics as manager of optical design in 2005 as well. He was later promoted to director of optical design in 2011, a position he maintains to this day. At Crane Micro-Optics, Mr. Cape focuses on the creation of cutting-edge security measures for banknotes and currencies around the world. He has helped develop a technology that utilizes moving 3D images on banknotes, offering a way to determine a banknote’s authenticity that cannot be easily duplicated.
As Mr. Cape has grown into a leadership role at Crane Micro-Optics, he has also taken on roles with its parent company, Crane Currency. He became director of research at Crane Currency in 2017 before shifting to the position of research fellow in 2018. Since 2025, Mr. Cape has served as the director of innovation and technical design at Crane Currency. That title represents his expertise and skill, which has led to innovations designed by him now being deployed in currencies used in more than 50 countries across the world. Most notably, Mr. Cape helped design the software and security used on the current $100 bill in the United States. He is proud of his contributions to this bill’s distinctive blue “motion thread” security stripe and the moving image it displays.
Before venturing onto his vocational path, Mr. Cape sought a strong education that he could draw upon. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Subsequently, Mr. Cape earned a Master of Science in electrical and computer engineering from the same institution in 2004. He notes the importance of mixing his technical skills and mathematical knowledge with his passion as an artist, believing it has allowed him to use creativity in his designs that others in the industry may not be as capable of.
Mr. Cape has garnered several accolades for his contributions to his field. In recognition of his work, he was presented with the CEO Leadership Award by Crane Currency in 2017. Mr. Cape has been granted more than 20 patents for his technological innovations. He is grateful for the guidance of multiple mentors throughout his professional life, especially Karin Mörck-Hamilton, who led Crane Currency’s international banknote design team when he joined the company and taught him key lessons in designing currency.
In addition to his career, Mr. Cape is a dedicated husband, a loving father to four and a devoted grandfather to one. His children are aged 12, 14, 16 and 31, and he gains great satisfaction from helping them embrace their passions. For example, Mr. Cape’s son, Jordan, competes in Rubik’s Cube competitions. He jokingly refers to himself as “a Rubik’s cubing dad rather than a soccer dad.”
Committed to his work at Crane Currency, Mr. Cape plans to continue improving the quality of his work moving forward. He has multiple ambitious ideas and looks forward to scaling them up in the years ahead. Mr. Cape is also engaged in creating music and video art and hopes to spend more time on these endeavors. He has invested approximately $20,000 in equipment for his home studio and intends to establish his own company for working with artists and advertising agencies.
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