Massachusetts lieutenant governor Karyn Polito joined Marlborough, MA Mayor Arthur G. Vigeant and Representative Carmine L. Gentile to announce $3.7 million in new grants from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), the Commonwealth's program to invest in innovative advanced manufacturing projects. The Lt. Governor announced three awards that involve partners and project sites across the Commonwealth. Polito announced the awards at Sheaumann Laser (Marlborough, MA), a 30-person firm that specializes in the design and manufacture of semiconductor lasers and modules for industrial, defense, medical, and printing applications.
"The M2I2 program invests in projects that reflect the collaborative spirit of our state and highlight Massachusetts' nation leading innovation economy," said Governor Charlie Baker.The Baker-Polito Administration has committed more than $100 million in funding to the M2I2 effort, which provides a vehicle for the Commonwealth to invest in the national Manufacturing USA program and advance innovation and job growth through collaboration among companies, universities, national labs, government, incubators, accelerators, and other academic/training institutions. To date, the M2I2 program has invested more than $50 million.
Under the Manufacturing USA program, Massachusetts is part of the national effort to develop revolutionary functional fibers and textiles, and is participating in regional manufacturing innovation in robotics, integrated photonics, flexible hybrid electronics, and biopharma. M2I2 awards support critical research and development infrastructure in four of these sectors, working closely with each of the national manufacturing institutes, including Next Flex (flexible hybrid electronics), AIM Photonics (integrated photonics), ARM (robotics), and Cambridge-based AFFOA (advanced functional fabrics).
"While each of these awards is targeted to one of our key focus areas - photonics, robotics, and flexible-hybrid electronics – we also recognized how these investments could help impact the Commonwealth's economic success in several legacy industries where Massachusetts has been a national or global leader, including commercial fishing, healthcare, and defense," said Ira Moskowitz, director of Advanced Manufacturing Programs at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and the program manager for M2I2.
Polito announced $3,773,400 in awards to three projects; one of them being in the photonics industry. Specifically, $2,345,000 went to Sheaumann Laser. The project name is AIM-compatible DFB, SOA, and high-power integrated laser and amplifier devices spanning 780 nm to 1800 nm.
"While other semiconductor laser foundries have moved overseas to reduce production costs and maintain a competitive advantage in the market, this solution has never been an option for Sheaumann Laser, because we take pride in providing our customers with high-quality laser products that are grown, processed, and packaged in the United States," said Sheaumann Laser president John Gary Sousa. "The M2I2 capital grant helps immensely in supporting Sheaumann's passion for innovative technology by helping broaden our capabilities in laser growth to include InP wavelengths (1120-1875nm) to our current catalog of GaAs wavelengths (780-1080 nm). The M2I2 grant will also enable us to increase jobs at our facility by 35-40%, helping meet the requirements of the AIM Photonics' Initiative. In addition, the expansion of new technology and personnel will help Sheaumann nearly double its current product line, allowing us to continue to compete with overseas foundries while maintaining all production activities in Massachusetts."
SOURCE: M2I2; http://m2i2.masstech.org/press-releases/baker-polito-administration-announces-over-37-million-spur-innovation-advanced
