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06 Jul 2007
Featuring news from Avago, Prism Solar Technologies, Research & Markets, Carolinas Photonics Consortium, Avanex, Moritex and others.
• Avago Technologies, US, has completed the acquisition of Infineon's polymer optical-fiber business unit based in Germany. The unit develops automotive multimedia infotainment networks and transceivers for safety systems, along with transmitters and receivers for industrial drive controls. The acquisition doubles Avago's R&D resources in automotive, industrial and home networking, and in optical links for mobile devices.
• A new research and development facility in Tucson, Arizona, has been opened by Prism Solar Technologies, a US supplier of solar modules. It will house a new optics laboratory and a pre-production photovoltaic module line. The company intends to start production of its holographic planar concentrator film products within a year, along with a limited volume of photovoltaic modules.
The Tucson facility will be overseen by Glenn Rosenberg, who has joined PST as chief technology officer. Rosenberg will oversee all research and development activities of the company. He has spent 20 years in the field of high efficiency silicon PV cells and holographic concentrator optics.
• Photonic technologies in automobile applications have proven to work well alongside associated electronic systems, according to a new study. However, integration and miniaturization in photonics is not as easy to achieve as in electronics, and optical sensors still need to prove they are capable of replacing their electronic counterparts. The Frost & Sullivan report entitled Advances in Photonic Technologies for the Automotive Industry covers liquid-crystal displays, HUDs, projection displays, CMOS and CCD image sensors, media oriented transport systems and intelligent optical communication protocols. It is available from Research & Markets.
• The Carolinas Photonics Consortium (CPC) has announced the formal signing of the CPC Inter-Institutional Agreement by North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Western Carolina University, Clemson University and Duke University. The agreement provides the foundation for collaborative university work aimed at the commercialization of light-based technologies, and the awarding of funds to competitively submitted proposals from the five campuses. CPC will be announcing a project proposal program in August 2007.
• Avanex, a US developer of optical networks, has acquired the MSA 300-pin transponder and XFP transceiver businesses of the Commercial Communication Products Division (CCPD) of Essex Corporation, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. CCPD develops pluggable transceivers and tunable transponders, and the acquisition expands Avanex's presence in the growing transmission module market. The company expects to integrate the acquired products into its product portfolio by the end of 2007.
• Moritex, UK, will open a new office in Munich to directly service the company's rapidly growing German customer base. It will provide an applications laboratory staffed by two technical specialists, offices and a stock of the company's range of telecentric lenses, high-performance LED lighting, halogen light sources and fiber light guides.
• A Titanium 560MB IR camera system from Cedip Infrared Systems has been selected by the Swansea Institute, UK, to support its consultative services to local industry in South Wales. It will also be used as a teaching tool for a new MSc course in non-destructive testing starting in October 2007, the only masters degree in non-destructive testing in the UK.
People
• Guido Bonati has taken over the management of Jenoptik Laserdiode, succeeding Hermann Voelckel who has retired. Bonati will be responsible for the operating business and expanding the product line, while Siegfried Schmallowsky will continue to have responsibility for the commercial area and human resources. Bonati joined Jenoptik in 2001 and was appointed managing director of Jenoptik Laser Solutions in 2005. The business of Laser Solutions will be amalgamated into JT Optical Engine, a joint venture with Trumpf, after anti-trust approval.
• The Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council Europe has appointed Hartwig Tauber as its first director general. A former president of the Council, Tauber will take up his new full-time position immediately, overseeing the daily management and administration of FTTH Council Europe activities and promoting its messages. Joeri Van Bogaert is the organization's president.
• Mark Swoboda has joined BridgeLux as its new chief executive officer. Swoboda has over 20 years' experience in the semiconductor industry, with the last eight years focused on the LED market. Outgoing CEO Robert Walker will continue on the board and lead strategic business development initiatives.
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