News Briefs
ISO certification: The Singapore manufacturing facility of Edmund Optics (Barrington, NJ) recently attained ISO 9001:2000 certification. Edmund Optics is a leading supplier of optics, optical components, and opto-mechanical equipment. The ISO 9000 family of standards provides a framework for effective quality management systems (QMS), and ISO 9001:2000 covers requirements for a world-class QMS. According to Edmund Optics, certification further demonstrates the effectiveness of its ongoing quality assurance program, which is in place at all of its facilities throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. In addition to ISO 9001 certification, Edmund Optics has invested heavily in state-of-the-art quality assurance equipment, including interferometers, modulation transfer function (MTF) test systems, and computerized centering scopes.
LIDAR system sale: Optech (Toronto, ON, Canada), a manufacturer of laser-based survey instruments, sold an ALTM 3100EA Airborne Laser Mapping System to Terrapoint Canada (Ottawa, ON, Canada). Terrapoint had previously operated an ALTM model 1025 in a joint venture with another Canadian mapping firm. Since then, they have gone on to manufacture their own systems and acquire others through corporate mergers. The purchase will allow Terrapoint to offer Optech operational and user insight into using the system. Terrapoint’s decision to purchase the new system was driven by their past experience with the ALTM product line, by Optech’s reputation as a worldwide leader in LIDAR mapping, and by Optech’s 24/7 customer support.
Optical sensor merger: Scientific Technologies Inc. (STI; Fremont, CA) agreed to sell its Safety Products Group (SPG)-which includes the Optical Sensor Division (OSD)-to Omron Corporation (Kyoto, Japan) through a corporate merger. The OSD provides safety products that are used to protect workers around machinery, automated equipment, and industrial robots in the semiconductor, automotive, electronics manufacturing, packaging, and consumer markets. Omron is a leader in the field of automation with approximately $6 billion in annual revenues and has more than 26,000 employees in 35 countries. The operations of STI’s SPG will remain in Fremont and Anaheim, CA.
Laser missile-seeker test: Raytheon successfully flight tested its Mid Range Munition Chemical Energy (MRM-CE) guided projectile with semi-active laser seeker (SAL) at the U.S. Army’s Proving Grounds in Yuma, AZ. The round was fired from an M1A2 SEP (System Enhancement Program) tank at a moving target at a range of about 5.4 miles (8.7 km). The objective of the test was to evaluate functionality of a gun-fired semi-active laser seeker against a moving designated target at beyond line-of-sight ranges. The Mid Range Munitions (MRM) guided projectile program is a key element of the U.S. Army FCS vehicles to dominate future battlefields at extended ranges in support of the lighter interim and objective forces now being equipped and deployed.
Acquisition complete: The acquisition and integration of Unique-mode into the Jenoptik Group (Jena, Germany) has been completed. Unique-mode, a 15-person company specializing in miniaturized optical systems (micro-optics) for diode lasers that generated fiscal year 2005 sales of nearly €2 million ($2.5 million), will now be operating under the name Jenoptik unique-mode GmbH. Unique-mode was founded in 2000 as a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute für Angewandte Optik und Feinmechanik (Applied Optics and Precision Mechanics).
Facility expansion: Structured Materials Industries (SMI; Piscataway, NJ), a provider of metal-organic chemical-vapor-deposition (MOCVD) systems and components, announced the expansion of its Piscataway headquarter facilities-doubling its size. This expansion follows another year of continuous growth and allows SMI to separate manufacturing facilities from its Applications Laboratory. SMI’s Customer Service Application Laboratory houses over 10 systems and is capable of producing a range of oxides, nitrides, and chalcogenides.
Name change: Koheras A/S (Birkeroed, Denmark) and LG-Laser Technologies GmbH (Kleinostheim, Germany) are moving closer: LG-Laser Technologies has changed the company name to Koheras GmbH. In 2004, Danish fiber laser manufacturer Koheras A/S acquired the majority of laser manufacturer LG-Laser Technologies GmbH in order to achieve a stronger presence in Germany. After two years of collaboration and preparation for the current changes, the Koheras group will present a joint portfolio of laser products to a diverse range of markets and industrial applications.
People in the news: Among the announcements of new executive appointments in photonics, a number of individuals have been recognized for outstanding performance in different industries. nLight Corporation (Vancouver, WA), a manufacturer of high-power semiconductor lasers, announced that Scott Keeney, president & CEO, received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2006 Award in the Technology category for the Pacific Northwest. And, Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA) announced that Tianwei Jing, Ph.D., research and development manager for its atomic force microscope business (formerly Molecular Imaging Corp.), has received the Arizona Bioscience Executive of the Year award from the Arizona BioIndustry Association (ABA; www.azbioindustry.org).
Executive appointments include Christian Neumeyr to the role of CEO for laser-diode developer VERTILAS GmbH (Garching, Germany), Kenneth Bean as director of manufacturing operations for Aculight (Bothell, WA), a developer of laser technologies, and Christopher J.L. Moore as general manager of semiconductor-metrology-systems provider Philips Advanced Metrology Systems (Philips AMS; Natick, MA).
LED acquisition: LSI Industries (Cincinnati, OH) has acquired substantially all the assets of SACO Technologies (Montreal, QC, Canada), a technology developer and producer of light-emitting diode (LED) products. The purchase consideration consists of $23 million cash, more than 1.4 million shares of LSI’s common stock, and assumption of certain indebtedness. SACO’s employees will remain in place with operations continuing in Montreal. Installed examples of SACO’s products include the largest video screen in the world (the Nasdaq Marketsite on Times Square), and displays for professional sports facilities and entertainment events. For LSI, solid-state LED products mean substantial new opportunities to drive growth in both the lighting and graphics segments of the business.
Full RoHS compliance: Bookham is now fully compliant with the European Parliament’s Restriction of the use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive. Following an external audit by BSi (British Standards Institute) Management Systems during an independent third party assessment, BSi confirmed that Bookham had systems and processes in place delivering the necessary compliance ahead of the legal deadline of July 1, 2006. The auditors identified a number of areas for particular praise, including the company’s design and new product introduction initiative and its supply chain management. The RoHS directive bans the use of certain hazardous substances, including lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), in electrical and electronic equipment sold into Europe.