TRUMPF Strengthens Industrial Software Position: Week in Brief: 07/22/22

Carl Zeiss Meditec and Precise Bio, a regenerative medicine company focused on bio-printed tissues and organs, entered a partnership to develop and commercialize fabricated corneal tissue for transplants in patients that require endothelial keratoplasty and natural lenticule transplants for treating keratoconus and vision correction. Carl Zeiss Meditec will invest in Precise Bio and fund the further development of Precise Bio’s two cornea transplant products, for which it has exclusive worldwide commercialization rights.

Precise Bio's bio-fabricated cornea. Courtesy of Precise Bio.

STEVANGE, England — Dragonfire, the U.K.’s laser directed energy weapon program led by MBDA, began a series of trials to test accuracy and power. The first of these trials recently conducted at low power by the Dragonfire consortium — a joint industry and U.K. Ministry of Defence collaboration between MBDA, Leonardo, QinetiQ, and Dstl — proved the system can successfully track air and sea targets with high accuracy. The trial used a low-power QinetiQ laser, Leonardo’s beam director, and MBDA’s image processing and control technology to facilitate the precise pointing and tracking accuracy.

SAN MARTIN, France — ALPAO and the W.M. Keck Observatory will develop a high-performance deformable mirror to upgrade the existing adaptive optics system on the Keck II 10-m telescope. The project, called HAKA (High-Order All-Sky Keck Adaptive Optics), includes the design, production, test, and delivery of a large, high-density, high-frequency deformable mirror. The partnership seeks to advance the techniques used to correct the blurring of astronomical images caused by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere.

Dragonfire laser on trials range. Courtesy of MBDA.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — High-density photonic test and measurement company Quantifi Photonics secured $15 million in a Series C funding. Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel Corp., led the round. Quantifi Photonics plans to offer fully integrated test systems for optical transceivers, silicon photonics, and co-packaged optical devices.

FARNBOROUGH, England — Qinetiq demonstrated an airborne uncrewed platform controlled via a laser communication system. In the demonstration, a ground-based operator controlled an airborne uncrewed air system (UAS) transmitting control commands receiving sensor and platform information that included free space optical communications as a bi-directional link in its mission communication system. The system provides low probability of detection communications as it operates outside the RF spectrum, which is prone to detection and interference.

DITZINGEN, Germany — TRUMPF made two strategic investments to boost manufacturing software and digitalization efforts. The company acquired the remaining 49% of shares in CAD and CAM software developer TRUMPF Metamation Private Ltd., and will also invest about $4 million in ScaleNC, a startup and wholly owned subsidiary offering cloud solutions to sheet metal manufacturers, including machine programming.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — SkyWater Technology announced plans to build a $1.8 billion semiconductor facility in Indiana through a public-private partnership with the state and Purdue University to pursue CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) for America Act funding. The facility, to be located on the Purdue campus, will provide access to SkyWater’s development services, volume production, and heterogeneous integrations solutions offered in its existing U.S. facilities in Minn. and Fla.

FAIRPORT, N.Y. — Luminate New York alum OwlAI will expand its operations in Monroe County in the town of Perinton, N.Y. The autonomous imaging company will move into a larger facility located at the Willowbrook Office Park that is expected to be operational this fall. The company raised $15 million in Series A financing this year.

MUNICH — NXP Semiconductors and Microchip Technology entered into technology agreements for the use of Inova Semiconductors’ IlaS (ISELED Light and Sensor Network) protocol in its microcontrollers for automotive applications.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering named the first set of projects to receive funding via the pilot program to Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies. The program will provide 10 Department of Defense program offices with $10 million in funding. Many of the projects employ photonic technologies including optical communications and tracking, biosensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, and sensing.

TEWKSBURY, Mass. — MRSI Systems will collaborate with Lumentum to further develop lidar technologies for the automotive industry. MRSI will present at the 2022 Compound Semiconductor Conference for Advanced Technology and Applications in Suzhou, China, titled “Discussion on Photonic Chips and Assembling Technologies in Automotive LIDAR” on behalf of both companies detailing technical aspects of the collaboration, including key assembly requirements and technologies, best mass production solutions for high-reliability and zero-defect, and experimental results.

HUDSON, Mass. — Optical interconnect solutions provider Senko Advanced Components acquired CudoForm, a designer and manufacturer of high precision metal micro-optic components with applications in data communications, consumer photonics, and biosafety.

HAIFA, Israel — Elbit Systems was selected to supply a direct infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system and an airborne electronic warfare system for a Gulfstream G650 aircraft of the Netherlands Ministry of Defense. Additionally, Universal Avionics, an Elbit Systems subsidiary, was awarded a $33 million contract to supply enhanced flight vision systems (EFVS) for Boeing 737NG aircraft. The contract will be executed through 2023.

HAYWARD, Calif. — Biotechnology company Eikon Therapeutics has leased a facility in New York City at the Alexandria Center for Life Sciences that will serve as the company’s East Coast base of operations. Eikon plans to develop its global headquarters in Millbrae, Calif.