Lumentum plans to quadruple production output in Thailand within two years, making the country its global flagship factory. The company's investment targets the development of a fully integrated photonics and printed circuit board/printed circuit board assembly ecosystem in Thailand. Lumentum will be partnering with Thailand’s Board of Investment, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Thailand Printed Circuit Association, and universities to establish tailored photonics and laser engineering programs and practical training at the new Lumentum Photonics Lab. HOBOKEN, N.J. — Quantum Computing Inc. (QCi), a photonics and quantum optics technology company, entered into securities purchase agreements with institutional investors for the purchase and sale of 37 million shares of common stock in an oversubscribed private placement priced at the market under Nasdaq rules. The offering is expected to result in gross proceeds of $750 million, before deducting offering expenses. The proceeds from the offering will fund commercialization, pursue strategic acquisitions, establish volume production capabilities, expand sales and engineering personnel, working capital, and general corporate purposes. Last month, QCi closed an oversubscribed private placement for the purchase and sale of more than 26 million shares of common stock. That offering resulted in gross proceeds of $500 million, before deducting offering expenses. ATLANTA — Assurant, a global protection company, acquired the portfolio of mobile device test automation technology from OptoFidelity, a provider of optical metrology systems for mobile devices. Assurant has used OptoFidelity’s testing solutions in its device care centers. OptoFidelity’s modular technology adapts quickly to changing production volumes and testing needs while delivering high-quality results at any scale across both iOS and Android devices. The acquisition is a step in Assurant’s roadmap for automation and robotics across its device care centers, expanding its ability to deliver devices to market at a high units per hour rate. CENTENNIAL, Colo. — NUBURU announced that its subsidiary, Nuburu Defense LLC, secured a binding agreement to directly acquire 100% of Orbit S.r.l., an Italian software company specializing in operational resilience, business continuity, and crisis management for mission-critical organizations. The agreement involves a two-phase transaction and is a major step in the build-out of NUBURU’s Defense & Security Hub and other allied agencies, the parent company said. PHOENIX — VON ARDENNE, a precision coating systems and co-developed materials solutions developer and provider, opened its ISO 5 and ISO 7 cleanroom complex in Dresden, Germany. The cleanrooms will enable customers to test, sample, and co-develop deposition processes with access to engineering and materials science expertise. They feature 200 sq m of ISO 5 assembly and test bays with airborne molecular contamination control, as well as 400 sq m of ISO 7 cleanroom manufacturing space. Concurrent to the opening, VON ARDENNE launched its OPTA X300 deposition tool. The OPTA X300 is a rotary disk coating system for sub-nanometer precision depositions on demanding substrates. WASHINGTON — At Optica's Global Photonics Economic Forum 2025 in Málaga, Spain, two prizes in excellence were awarded for global innovation and impact in photonics. The corporate achievement prize was awarded to Corning Incorporated for the company’s role in AI, quantum, semiconductors, and clean energy. The award was presented by Francisco de la Torre Prados, mayor of Málaga, to Claudio Mazzali, vice president of global research at Corning. The individual lifetime achievement prize was awarded to John T.C. Lee, president and CEO of MKS. Optica 2025 president, Jim Kafka, presented the award in recognition of Lee’s leadership and impact. DÜSSELDORF, Germany — Bosch, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Nokia Bell Labs, ZEISS, TRUMPF, and EssilorLuxottica have joined forces to urge the European Commission to place photonics within the next EU framework program (FP10). In a joint statement, leaders in Europe’s defense, automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, and telecoms sectors warn that without a bold and dedicated strategy, Europe risks falling further behind China and the U.S. in the global race for photonics. With FP10 set to shape Europe’s research and innovation agenda for 2028 to 2034, industry leaders argue that only a dedicated program can ensure Europe’s photonics sector remains globally competitive. The joint statement calls on the EU to establish a €2 billion stand-alone photonics program under FP10, launch photonics grand challenge proposals in fields such as AI, space, quantum, and defense, and strengthen resilient European supply chains for critical photonics components and materials. VANCOUVER — BTQ Technologies Corp., a global quantum technology company, collaborated with the University of Cambridge to fund research in quantum photonic devices. The collaboration will focus on implementing inverse-design approaches to develop quantum photonic devices for the future of quantum computing and quantum-secure communications. Blazed diffraction gratings manufactured by Inprentus. Courtesy of Inprentus. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Inprentus, which designs, manufactures, and sells diffraction gratings, received a contract from Brookhaven National Laboratory’s National Synchrotron Light Source-II (NSLS-II) to provide three ultra-high vacuum compatible, soft x-ray variable line spacing blazed gratings for an energy loss spectrometer (INSPIRE) for the IOS beamline. NSLS is an advanced synchrotron facility; it is a third-generation synchrotron light source that has a highly optimized 3 GeV electron storage ring and experimental beamlines and optics. The INSPIRE is a planned long-term upgrade and expansion of the IOS beamline. Inprentus’ diffraction gratings were chosen for the project for a variety of premium specifications designed to optimize beamline performance, including varied line spacing, high efficiency, and high resolving power, including the ability to meet stringent ultra-high vacuum requirements of such optics. Example of automotive interior sensing technology. Courtesy of STMicroelectronics. STOCKHOLM — Tobii, an automotive interior sensing company, and STMicroelectronics are entering mass production of interior sensing technology for a premium European carmaker for enhanced driver and passenger monitoring. The single-camera solution combines Tobii’s interior-sensing technology and STMicroelectronics' image sensors to deliver wide-angle, high-quality imaging in daytime and nighttime environments. The sensor technology features a single 5.1-MP hybrid pixel design, sensitive to both RGB (color in daytime) and infrared (IR at nighttime) light.