New imaging institute: On 16 November 2009, 80 top-level representatives from the academic and business communities gathered at The Open University’s Milton Keynes campus to celebrate the opening of the e2v (Chelmsford, England) centre for electronic imaging (CEI). Now based at the University’s Milton Keynes campus, the e2v CEI is a collaboration between The Open University and e2v, a developer and manufacturer of imaging components and sub-systems. The centre is dedicated to the research and development of advanced technologies for electronic image sensing and provides knowledge exchange between the U.K. technology industry and the academic world.
PV scribing award: JP Sercel Associates (JPSA; Manchester, NH) was selected as a New Hampshire High Technology Council (NHHTC) Product of the Year 2009 Judges’ Award winner for their PV-5000 Thin Film Photovoltaic Laser Scribing Systems for high-volume production of thin-film-on-glass solar panels. JPSA was one of four finalists chosen to present their innovative products in a tradeshow format and on stage to members of the NHHTC and the public on November 17, 2009. JPSA’s chairman and CTO, Jeffrey Sercel, said, “It’s great to receive this award and be a part of this special event that celebrates NH’s best of the best in technology. JPSA is proud to be a member of the New Hampshire high technology community.”
Water on the moon: History was made on Friday October 9th when NASA sent not one but two spacecraft hurtling into the surface of the Moon leaving a Thermoteknix (Cambridge, England) miniature thermal imaging camera permanently embedded in its own lunar crater. A 2200 kg Centaur rocket stage slammed into the Moon in a flurry of lunar dust, followed shortly after by a second unmanned spacecraft containing an array of sensors including a Thermoteknix MIRICLE TB2–30 infrared camera to record the impact. Project scientist Anthony Colaprete said, “I’m here today to tell you that indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find just a little bit; we found a significant amount”--about a dozen, two-gallon bucketfuls, he said, holding up several white plastic containers.
Laser phototherapy: Cell Gen Therapeutics (Dallas, TX), a privately held photo-medical company, commissioned Quantum Composers (Bozeman, MT) to manufacture systems designed for therapy using light induced bio-stimulation. This contract now transitions Quantum Composers from the development and prototype phase into production manufacturing for commercial distribution. The laser therapy process has already been used in the medical field with positive results in rehabilitation for a wide variety of injuries and ailments. This High Density laser therapy system is clinically proven to greatly improve pain and recovery time through clinical trials.
Asphere manufacturing improvement: Optimax (Ontario, NY) is expanding its capability of manufacturing high-precision spheres and aspheres with the acquisition of QED’s Q22-Y machine. With this magnetorheological finishing (MRF) system, Optimax will be able to increase speed and accuracy, producing results better than lambda/20 p-v on diameters up to 200 mm or more. Optimax will leverage this machine to extend its capabilities to prism, free-form, and cylindrical optics as well. Optimax provides rapid prototyping of precision optical components in sizes up to 300 mm and specializes in asphere, cylinder, sphere, and plano/flat optics.
Improved LED and FPD capabilities: Fusion Optix (Woburn, MA), a developer of optical components and LED lighting modules and flat-panel displays (FPDs), expanded its in-house optical film and optical lamination capabilities with a new optical film production line at its Woburn facility. The new line represents a significant increase in production capacity and advances in optical film processing technology and increases capacity by a factor of 20, resulting in faster lead times for large-volume orders. Furthermore, a series of key, sophisticated customizations allow base materials to be ready for manufacture in half the time of the current system. The line is also twice as wide, bringing the maximum film width to 12”, and can produce film at least twice as thick as current in-house capabilities allow.
Emil Wolf awardees: The OSA Foundation is pleased to announce the first award winners of the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition; one recipient was chosen from each of the seven FiO subcommittees. This year’s honorees are Amber Beckley, University of Rochester, USA; Daniel Herrmann, Max-Planck Institut für Quantenoptik, Germany; Neil Terry, Duke University, USA; Christopher Barsi, Princeton University, USA; Volker Sorger, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Henrique Pires, Leiden University, Netherlands; and Xin Wei, Indiana University, USA. Established in 2008 in honor of University of Rochester professor Emil Wolf’s many contributions to science and OSA, the competition recognizes innovation, research excellence and presentation abilities.
Shooting down UAVs: During the U.S. Air Force-sponsored tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, CA, the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), which was developed by Boeing under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory, used a single, high-brightness laser beam to shoot down five unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at various ranges. Laser Avenger, a Boeing-funded initiative, also shot down a UAV. Gary Fitzmire, VP and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems’ Directed Energy Systems unit said, “MATRIX’s performance is especially noteworthy because it demonstrated unprecedented, ultra-precise and lethal acquisition, pointing and tracking at long ranges using relatively low laser power.”
People in the news: IQE (Cardiff, England), supplier of epitaxial wafer growth services for the wireless, optoelectronic, solar, and solid-state lighting industries, appointed Adrian Meldrum as group business development director. Meldrum has more than 15 years experience in the optoelectronics market sector having held a range of technical and commercial roles with JDSU and more recently, business development and sales & marketing roles at Bookham (now Oclaro) where he was general manager of the Telecom Division until joining IQE.
Barry Hopkins, CEO of RAVE LLC (Delray Beach, FL), was awarded the 2009 Bacus Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Photomask Technology symposium, sponsored annually by SPIE and BACUS, in Monterey, California. Hopkins helped found RAVE, with the idea of using the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) in a revolutionary new nanomachining approach for repairing extremely small defects on advanced critical level photomasks.
Toshiba America’s Imaging Systems Division (TAIS; Irvine, CA) appointed Paul Dempster to the position of director, medical imaging and factory automation. He will oversee sales, business development, and marketing activities for Toshiba’s advanced video imaging technology and high resolution CMOS and CCD cameras. Dempster is a 20-year veteran of the diagnostic imaging community, has extensive experience in specialized medical and industrial video imaging applications, such as radiology, surgical imaging, and non-destructive testing.