LLNL recognizes fiber supplier: Fiberguide Industries (Stirling, NJ) was formally recognized by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL; Livermore, CA) for its participation in and contributions to the National Ignition Facility (NIF) program with a presentation of a plaque at the Fiberguide Idaho facility. Fiberguide has been supporting the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) worldwide in taking their concepts and ideas to market since 1977 with a line of standard and custom high optical transmission multimode, single-mode, and graded-index optical fibers from the ultraviolet (180 nm) to the infrared (2.7 microns), and temperature ranges from -269ºC to +700ºC, as well as a variety of fiber-based components.
Quantum-cascade laser funding: University of Strathclyde spin-out and quantum-cascade laser manufacturer Cascade Technologies (Stirling, Scotland) secured an additional $2 million of funding to develop further market opportunities.
Cascade Technologies developed and patented the world’s first real-time technology for the detection, measurement, and monitoring of gas emissions and explosives through the use of quantum-cascade lasers. Cascade has also extended its technology licensing agreement with BP Marine for five more years; the partnership allows Cascade to exclusively design and supply emissions monitoring systems for use in the marine industry. The extended commitment will generate $20 million of orders by 2010, with projected revenues set at $50 million over the next five years.
Chinese telecom approval: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information (MII) issued a Network Access License to Infinera (Sunnyvale, CA) for the Infinera DTN optical networking platform. Obtaining this certification is an important requirement for the deployment of the Infinera DTN by China’s public sector and private sector telecommunications carriers. Over several months, Infinera passed all required tests and criteria, successfully demonstrating to MII the features and capabilities of the DTN. In February 2008, Infinera opened a Beijing office to support customer deployments in China.
OLED collaboration: CDT (Cambridge, England) and Sumitomo Chemicals (Japan), providers of polymer organic light emitting diode (P-OLED) devices, and Novaled (Dresden, Germany), provider of high efficiency p-i-n OLED structures and dopant materials, will collaborate under a joint development agreement to investigate the feasibility and benefits of new materials and Novaled PIN OLED structures in P-OLED devices. CDT, Sumitomo, and Novaled plan to co-develop hybrid OLED devices combining both new polymer emitting layers and doped electron transport layers. It is expected that these hybrid devices will offer further improvements in power efficiency without additional manufacturing complexity. Further, Novaled will grant a license to CDT to add necessary Novaled device IP to its existing and future licenses. Each company will remain responsible to market its own materials resulting from this co-development.
Telecom components merger: Finisar (Sunnyvale, CA) and Optium (Horsham, PA) entered into a definitive agreement under which the two companies will be combined through an all-stock merger, creating what they say is the world’s largest supplier of optical components, modules, and subsystems for the communications industry. The combined company will leverage Finisar’s leadership position in the storage and data networking industries and Optium’s leadership position in the telecommunications and CATV industries. Based on the twelve months through January 2008 reported by each company, the combined company had revenues of approximately $554 million. The combined company will have approximately 5,000 employees worldwide.
Solid-state lighting opportunity: The U.S. Department of Energy released the Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Core Technology Research funding opportunity (Round 5) on May 5, 2008. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program, is soliciting applications from research organizations to perform high-priority Core Technology Research activities that will advance the technical knowledge base for SSL to be used for general illumination applications. The release marks the fifth SSL Core Technology Research funding opportunity in a series expected to span a decade. For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov/ssl.
Satellite image sensor contract: e2v (Chelmsford, England) won a contract to supply imaging sensors to the Space Application Centre (SAC), part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), for their new satellites. The SAC will develop the following satellites using e2v’s charge coupled devices (CCDs): Resourcesat 3 will use three cameras—LISS 4, LISS 3, and a multispectral camera; Cartosat 3 will use a single multispectral camera. Brian McAllister, general manager of Space & Scientific Imaging at e2v, said, “This is a significant new contract for e2v. These devices will be designed and manufactured in Grenoble, highlighting the synergies of the Grenoble facility with our traditional Chelmsford-based space imaging expertise and expanding the type of products e2v can supply to space agencies.”
Laser-guided rocket: Raytheon and Emirates Advanced Investments of the United Arab Emirates signed a cooperative development agreement for a semi-active laser-guided 70 mm rocket designed to provide increased precision and lethality compared with conventional unguided rockets. “The Laser Guided Rocket project with Raytheon is a very important defense industry initiative for the United Arab Emirates,” said Hussain I. Al Hammadi, Emirates Advanced Investments’ CEO. Under the cooperative development agreement, the Laser Guided Rocket program represents a transfer of technology to the United Arab Emirates, subject to approval of the respective companies’ governments.
LCD TV association grows: LG Electronics, VIZIO, Luminus Devices, and Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) joined the LCD TV Association (Beaverton, OR), a global, not-for-profit marketing trade association chartered to inform, promote, improve and connect the entire LCD TV supply chain. Bruce Berkoff, chairman of the LCD TV Association, said, “LG Electronics is a leader in LCD TVs globally, while VIZIO has quickly risen as a top player in the important U.S. market. Luminus and GLT have teamed up to produce a unique RGB, edge-lit backlighting solution using Luminus’ PhlatLight LED and GLT’s MicroLens light guide technologies, and are paving the way for ultra thin and low cost LED backlighting.”
French research tax credit: France has focused its attention during the past two years on electronic and medical nanotechnologies. Support for these technologies continues to be a priority for the government, which has put in place the best research tax credit in Europe for the sector’s R&D activities, where 50% of R&D costs can be reimbursed the first year. As a result, there are now numerous top-ranking companies and several major competitive clusters in this sector: Minalogic in Grenoble (LETI, STMicroelectronic), System@tic, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur secure communication solutions cluster, and various skills in nanoelectronics in the academic research centers. Also, many foreign players have chosen France to establish their industrial or research activities (NXP, Atmel, Freescale, Renesas).
People in the news: Jayne Somes-Schloesser will join the Optical Society of America (OSA; Washington, DC) as deputy executive director and COO. Somes-Schloesser will oversee society operations and will be responsible for an annual budget of $30 million. A veteran of non-profit operations, Somes-Schloesser was most recently senior VP of operations of the Mortgage Bankers Association, where she held principal responsibility for its operations.
Developer of TMOS color display technology Uni-Pixel (The Woodlands, TX) announced that display industry expert Ross Young joined its board of directors. Young founded DisplaySearch in 1996, a provider of market intelligence on displays and related technology. Prior to that, he served in senior marketing positions at OWL Displays, Brooks Automation, Fusion Semiconductor, and GCA.
Bernard Couillaud and Edward (Ted) Collins were elected to the Bookham (San Jose, CA) board of directors. Couillaud brings more than 25 years of executive level experience to Bookham and served as president and CEO of Coherent (Santa Clara, CA) until 2002. Collins adds extensive investment banking, management, and legal experience to Bookham and is currently managing director and a partner at ChinaVest.
Markos I. Tambakeras joined the board of directors of Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA); Tambakeras, 57, has more than 30 years of experience in the management of technology companies and was most recently executive chairman of Kennametal, a global tooling solutions supplier. Prior to Kennametal, Tambakeras spent 19 years with Honeywell International in a number of management positions.
