Photonics news round-up
17 Jun 2002
This week's highs and lows include expansions, funding and job cuts.
France-based micro-electro-mechanical systems manufacturer
MEMSCAP is setting up a subsidiary in Tokyo, Japan that will sell optical components including cross-connect switches based on micro-mirrors. The company has also extended links with software distributors in China, Korea and Australia, and just reported first-half revenues of Euro 6.1 million.
A Canadian manufacturer of speciality optical fibers,
CorActive High-Tech, has raised USD 10.5 million in its latest round of funding. The company plans to increase its production capacity and increase research, manufacturing and sales activities.
Also expanding is the US manufacturer of high brightness light-emitting diodes
Uniroyal Technology. The company has finished building its epitaxial facility, as part of an "aggressive plan" to expand capacity. Hoping to complete a research and development facility in the new future, Uniroyal Technology's chief executive Robert Soran said: "We are committed to excel in this industry, and have moved one step closer to the goal."
Communications giant,
Lucent Technologies, is to cut its number of senior executives by one-third as part of an internal reorganization. The US company also plans to separate its wireline, including optical fiber, and wireless business segments.
Keeping in the US, the imaging company,
Polaroid, has received a waiver from its US lenders that will allow it to restructure its debt and forgo bond interest payments. "From an operational standpoint, this allows us to continue business as usual while we position the company for a digital future," said Polaroid's chief executive Gary DiCamillo.
And finally, the UK's
Engineering and Physical Science Research Council and the
Department of Trade and Industry have teamed up to create a program called Electronics and Photonics Packaging and Interconnection (EPPIC). Led by the
World Center for Materials Joining Technology, the program will drive UK industry research in the packaging and manufacturing sectors of electronics and photonics.
