Optics and IR component manufacturer LightPath Technologies Inc. announced the expansion of its operations in China with the addition of a 1200-sq-m manufacturing space, upgrades to coating facilities, increased machine shop space for a significant cost reduction in parts and enlarged dicing and assembly production areas. The expanded facility achieved certification to the ISO 16949 automotive quality standard in support of the company’s advancement into the automotive electronics market. “We are gearing up for substantially increasing demand globally for many product lines, including defense, industrial and medical applications,” said Jim Gaynor, president and CEO LightPath. “In the automotive electronics market we have seen heightened interest in our sensing and IR technologies. The expansion of the LightPath’s operations in China with improved automotive electronics capabilities and the requisite certification to work within the automotive OEM supply chain marks another development in our global growth and diversification strategy. We have been making concerted investments to increase our manufacturing capacity amid the increasing demand as well as funding of research and product development to bolster our technological leadership.” LightPath has been immersed in the design and manufacturing of an optical system assembly based on its proprietary high power fiber delivery technology. The company’s low-cost, high-quality laser diode to fiber coupling system are used in level position mapping for mission critical applications such as with autonomous vehicle instrumentation where accuracy and calibration are of paramount concern. Market demand for laser distance sensing has been increasing rapidly and is driven in large part by autonomous driving. According to market research firm BCC Research, the sensor segment of the photonic applications market is projected to grow from $2.5 billion in 2016 to nearly $4.6 billion by 2021, a five-year compound annual growth rate of 12.6 percent. LightPath’s product development efforts include advanced driver assistance systems, lidar sensing and spectrographic and fiber delivery technologies. Many of these products, which are being designed for higher margin applications within the automotive electronics, healthcare and defense sectors, incorporate LightPath’s technologies and, in certain cases, also include its visible light technologies. Investments in manufacturing expansion and product development are intended to enable LightPath to meet the increasing demand for optical and infrared components, improve time-to-market and accelerate delivery for custom projects.