Business briefs

05 Sep 2003

Including news from Ocean Optics, Melles Griot, Diomed and more.

•  Ocean Optics, a maker of handheld spectrometers, has announced record sales of more than $13million (EURO 12 million) for the six month period January to July 2003, an increase of 42% compared with the same period last year.

•  Melles Griot has relocated the OEM Industrial Optics part of its California-based Photonics Components group to its Optics group unit in Rochester, New York State. “By relocating our OEM optical components business to Rochester, we position ourselves for the continued growth of our optics business and the advancement of the related technologies,” said Blake Fennell, the company’s CEO.

•  Diomed, a US maker of medical laser systems, has raised $21.3 million in equity financing. The company will initially receive $6.5million, which it will convert into common stock at 8 cents per share. At a later date, the investors will release the remaining balance, which will also be converted into common stock.

•  A start-up called Exalos as risen out of the ashes of the Swiss active optical component maker Opto Speed. Exalos will concentrate on developing Opto Speed’s superluminescent light-emitting diode (SLED) technology for use in the fiber-optic gyroscope, medical, test equipment and sensor industries. The new company has its headquarters in Liechtenstein and additional offices in Zurich, Switzerland.

•  Bender Shipbuilding and Repair claims to have become the first US shipyard to laser weld structural steel panels on its production line. The test panels, each measuring 2 foot square by 1/8 inch thick, were welded using Bender’s 6 kW laser system. This work is a result of collaboration between Bender and fellow US companies Visotek and Alabama Laser. Funding for this work came from the Office of Naval Research's SBIR program.