Photovoltaic funds go to Fiberstars
Fiberstars (Solon, OH), a manufacturer of fiber-optic lighting, has received $240,000 in funding through the Very High Efficiency Solar Concentrator Consortium (VHESC). Fiberstars was selected to join the consortium in 2006; this new installment will fund Fiberstars’ contributions through the next stage of the project.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency established the VHESC program to demonstrate at least 50% efficiency in a photovoltaic device. The consortium is led by the University of Delaware and includes other solar teams in industry and academia. Fiberstars has been working with this group to develop materials, processes, and optics to speed the solar industry’s development of higher-efficiency solar cells.
VirtualScopics wins DOD image contracts
Image-based biomarker solutions provider VirtualScopics (Rochester, NY) has begun work on two research contracts from the Department of Defense totaling $2.2 million. The contracts will explore the application of VirtualScopics’ proprietary image analysis technologies to the interpretation of optical hyperspectral reconnaissance and surveillance imagery.
“One of the main challenges facing today’s analytical community, within the defense sector, is how to effectively utilize increasing volumes of gathered data and information,” said Congressman Jim Walsh of New York. “I am pleased that VirtualScopics and Navy Research Labs are collaborating to provide the needed solutions and at the same time contributing to the Western New York economy with additional high-tech business.”
Cypress to sell image-sensor business
Cypress Semiconductor (San Jose, CA) entered into a definitive agreement to sell its SMaL Camera Technologies subsidiary to Sensata Technologies. SMaL Camera provides cameras and camera subsystems to automotive advanced driver-assistance systems for such customers as Bosch and Delphi.
“Cypress acquired SMaL Camera in February 2005 and with it came great technology to supplement our image-sensor business and achieve a stronger position in the market,” said Cliff Drowley, vice president of Cypress’ image-sensor group. “Our decision to divest the business is based on a strategic shift to focus resources onto our custom image sensor business.” Cypress will retain its growing custom image-sensor business in Mechelen, Belgium.
Halma adds Labsphere to its photonics family
Labsphere (North Sutton, NH), a designer and manufacturer of light-measurement technology, has been acquired by Halma, a safety, health, and sensor technology group based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1979, Labsphere produces light-emitting-diode (LED), laser, and traditional light-source measurement systems, light sources for imaging-device calibration, spectroscopy accessories, and reflectance materials and coatings for applications in displays and for system calibration.
Labsphere joins Ocean Optics (Dunedin, FL) and Mikropack (Ostfildern, Germany) in the photonics sector of the health and analysis business group at Halma.
Vision Research bundles software and cameras
High-speed camera and image-system provider Vision Research (VRI; Wayne, NJ) is joining forces with Image Systems (Linköping, Sweden), a developer of motion-analysis software, to provide TEMA Starter for Phantom software with every Phantom camera shipped by Vision Research.
The bundling of the software enables users of TEMA high-speed cameras to see visually by watching the slow-motion movie of an event and using TEMA motion-analysis software.
Also in the news . . .
ICx Technologies announced that its Ion Optics (Billerica, MA) business unit is changing its name to ICx Precision Photonics to coincide with the unit’s move to a new facility and to more accurately reflect its core competency in infrared (IR) light sensors and sources deployed in military friend-or-foe identifiers and in industrial gas-sensing systems. . . . Basler-VC (Ahrensburg, Germany) has chosen LinX (Yokohama, Japan), manufacturer of GINGA frame-grabber boards and camera-link devices, as its sales representative for the eXcite camera line in Japan; Basler’s other linescan and area-scan camera models are being represented in Japan by Neopt. . . . e2v (Chelmsford, England) has selected Tower Semiconductor (Migdal Haemek, Israel), an independent specialty wafer foundry, as its supplier of choice for its complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor devices. . . . LumaSense Technologies (Santa Clara, CA), a provider of sensing solutions, will acquire Mikron Infrared (Oakland, NJ), a provider of infrared noncontact temperature measurement and thermal imaging equipment.