Source: Mass High Tech
A new study on the state of the robotics industry in Massachusetts highlighted innovation around industrial automation, medical applications of robotics and local university programs, and was released this morning by The Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.

More than 80 robotics companies have their headquarters in the commonwealth, the report said, with about 40 percent of those companies considered startups or are younger than 6 years old. With 2,500 residents employed in robotics in Massachusetts, the industry’s 47 percent average annual growth rate is poised to add jobs. The report highlighted robotics’ statistics citing 70 percent of robotics companies planning to hire in the next year or two, with 90 percent of all hirings coming from local talent.

To know more, click here.

Source: OPN volume 20, an OSA magazine

Un article sur differents exemples reussis de tech transfers, tels que Raydiance, BD Displays, Optigrade, LP photonics, etc.
Pour une copie de cette article, nous contacter.

Egalement: Un article sur l’histoire de Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman et la decouverte de l’effet Raman.

Source: Newsletter Jones Land LaSalle

Here is the quarterly Boston Economy Overview, prepared by Jones Lang LaSalle. This report consists of in-depth analysis on the national and local economic climate and its impact on the Metropolitan Boston office market.

Rather gloomy.

To read the report, click here.

Source: optics.org

The south of France is home to a thriving optics and photonics community. Belle Dumé talks to key players to find out the benefits of living and working in the land of light.

Optimizing medical imaging

Located on the south-east coast of France, on the Mediterranean, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region surrounding Marseille is known as the land of light not only for its climate but also for the photonics cluster that calls the area home. The cluster is called OPTITEC, an active professional community which today has more than 170 members, including 106 companies and 40 research laboratories, all involved in industrial development, research and education in optics, photonics and image processing.

To know more, click here.

Source: R&D magazine

Karl Bates and his colleagues in the palaeontology and biomechanics research group have reconstructed the bodies of five dinosaurs, two T. rex (Stan at the Manchester Museum and the Museum of the Rockies cast MOR555), an Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, a Strutiomimum sedens and an Edmontosaurus annectens.

The team, whose findings are published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE today (19th February 2009), found that the smaller Museum of the Rockies T. rex could have weighed anywhere between 5.5 and 7 tons, while the larger specimen (Stan) might have weighed as much as 8 tons.

(…)

The team used laser scanning (LiDAR) and computer modelling methods to create a range of 3D models of the specimens, attempting to reconstruct their body sizes and shape as in life. The laser scanner images the full mounted skeleton, resulting in a detailed 3D model in which each bone retains its spatial position and articulation. This provides a high resolution skeletal framework around which the body cavity and internal organs such as stomach, lungs and air sacs can be reconstructed. This has allowed calculation of body segment masses, centers of mass and moments of inertia for each animal—all the information that is needed to analyze body movements. To know more, click here.

Source: Mass High Tech

The Clean Technology & Sustainable Industries Organization has launched “cleanConnect,” a Cambridge-based program intended to help startups in clean technology flourish in the current recession.

The cleanConnect program includes free membership for eligible companies to share resources, develop partnerships, generate funding and foster policy advocacy.

Patricia Glaza, executive director and CEO of CTSI, said in a statement that the program aims to continue the progress made in energy, water and environmental technology before the recession hit and ensure these developments don’t suffer.

CTSI officials have said that cleanConnect members will have “priority access to the association’s annual Washington, D.C. policy tour” with access to congressional and agency representatives. The association’s annual event also gives members a networking opportunity with investors and Fortune 500 corporations. For more information, click here.

Source: Photonics Spectra

The photonics industry is booming in Canada, which just might give new meaning to the phrase “northern lights.”

The nation has 370 photonics companies that employ 20,000 people, and the industry generates $4.5 billion in Canadian revenue each year, according to an industry report released at Photonics West 2009 by the Canadian Photonics Consortium (CPC). Eighty-five percent of that revenue comes from exports, including 50 percent to the US.

Clusters in the provinces of Québec and Ontario have shown healthy growth potential with a strong startup base and the migration of small and medium enterprises into larger entities. In terms of research and development, the nation’s photonics organizations and universities have excelled – contributing the world’s first solid-state laser range finder, the TEA CO2 laser and laser marking, fiber Bragg grating, charge-couples devices (CCDs), open-heart surgery using an excimer laser, photodynamic drug therapy for cancer treatment, commercial 10 Gb/s optical transport and the first lidar system on the surface of Mars – but R&D efforts have not yet been fully converted into economic activity.

To know more, click here.

Source: Laser Focus World, February 2009

Adaptive optics has tantalized researchers looking for ways to image through thick biological tissue–but the approach is not straightforward Now a group of researchers in California has developed a technique for directly measuring the inherent aberrations.

On y parle de UCSC et du Livermore National Lab, de Shack Hartmann, …

Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus, signalez-le nous et nous vous scannerons l’article.

Source: laser focus world, february 2009

The field of so-called active plasmonics has seen an unprecedented leap in switching times, thanks to the favorable properties of aluminum and the efforts of a number of researchers at the University of Southampton (Southampton, England) in collaboration with an academic at Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA).
To know more, let us know and we’ll scan the article.

Source: Laser Focus World, february 2009

Direct femtosecond laser writing is emerging as an alternative technique to lithography for fabrication of microstructures inside transparent materials.

Pour plus d’information, nous consulter: nous vous enverrons l’article scanne.

Source: Electro optics

Greg Blackman looks at the technology surrounding and the applications for lidar - a remote sensing technique analogous to radar

The concept of radar is well known and most people are familiar with images of radar screens from films and television. The principle of using radio waves to detect distant objects has been around since the beginning of the 20th century, when Christian Hülsmeyer demonstrated the feasability of detecting a ship in dense fog. The technology has advanced over the past century, in particular having received a huge impetus during the Second World War.

(…) ‘Lidar systems project out a laser light source and a telescopic receiver collects and processes the back-scattered light returning from an object,’ explains Robert Afzal, vice president of R&D at Lockheed Martin Aculight. Thus, lidar can be used to remotely detect an object and provide information on the distance and range of that object. Lockheed Martin’s Aculight facility, based in Bothell, Washington, US, provides laser system solutions for defence, aerospace and medical applications. To know more, click here.

Source: Electro optics

Photonics is helping to reduce costs and improve efficiency in photovoltaics.

The last five years have seen a massive investment in alternative energy sources. Worries about global warming have combined with soaring oil and gas prices, together with political concerns over oil and gas suppliers such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran, to make renewables a booming market.

That has made solar cell manufacturing a growth sector. Companies have rushed to invest in the market, and new fabs have been opened at an accelerating rate. For laser manufacturers and system integrators, photovoltaic manufacturing has appeared as a major area.

The photovoltaic market

The solar market is currently dominated by crystalline – or wafer-silicon (c-Si). Lasers play an important role in the manufacturing process of polycrystalline solar cells, and the material currently represents the main market for laser systems in photovoltaic production. However, alternate thin film photovoltaic modalities are emerging that are potentially cheaper and simpler to manufacture than c-Si, and these have experienced very fast growth rates recently. Thin film photovoltaic forms also require the use of laser systems in their production, but employ them in different functions and phases of production. To know more, click here.

Voici quelques photos prises a Photonics West, courtesy of Imagine Optic…

Source: optics.org

Some markets stay robust, but semiconductor equipment sales were the lowest since 2004.

Newport reported that sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 totalled $107.4 million, down by 9% compared with the fourth quarter of 2007. Sales for the full year of 2008 totalled $445.3 million, roughly unchanged from 2007.

Overall the company reported a net loss in Q4 2008 of $140.7 million, after a net income of $25.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. For the full year Newport posted a net loss of $140.9 million compared with net income of $43.9 million the previous year, although it indicated its belief that these results were influenced by a number of items outside of the company’s core operating results.

We continue to integrate our core competences in lasers, optical systems and motion control technology to provide solutions that enhance the manufacturing process of solar cells and panels,” Newport’s president and CEO Robert Phillippy told analysts. “We also achieved all-time record orders in our scientific research, aerospace and defence/security market sector during the fourth quarter of 2008.” To know more, click here.

Source: optics.org

Zygo announced sales of $33.5 million and a net loss of $4.0 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Metrology products accounted for the largest single sales sector, although earnings were unfavourably affected by an overall reduction in sales and lower gross margins across the company. “There is no indication that a worldwide economic recovery will occur in 2009,” noted CEO Bruce Robinson. “To that end we are taking additional actions, across the board, to restructure our business and reduce costs.”

Zygo also announced that it had called off its intended merger with Electro Scientific Industries, originally announced in October 2008. Changes in conditions since then meant that the merger as constructed was are no longer in the best interest of the Zygo stockholders, according to Robinson.

Source: optics.org

Restructuring will help, but the next quarters are still set to be difficult.

Coherent saw its net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 decline 12.4% sequentially and 13.8% from the same quarter a year ago. The company posted sales of $124.4 million and a net loss of $14.7 million for the quarter, although the results were better than had been projected.

“Macroeconomics remains the dominant force in our business environment,” commented CEO John Ambroseo speaking to analysts. “Coherent took early action to respond to this downturn, which in turn, supported our Q1 results. With end user demand under greater pressure, Coherent is maintaining its conservative posture. We have further reduced headcount and programme spending as well as announced the elimination of three additional sites.”

To know more, click here.

Source: optics.org

here are war-time generals and there are peace-time generals. Right now, says Allan Kreutzer, vice-president of global sales at Edmund Optics, photonics companies needs their war-time generals more than ever.

More optics, more service, more technology is the message from Allan Kreutzer (left)

“I started in the optics industry in 1969,” he told optics.org. “I’ve been through six major recessions in optics and this one is absolutely unique.” When the market heads south, says Kreutzer, engineers and executives across the optics supply chain need to focus on the basics. For him, that means extreme customer support. “Everybody needs service. When business is down, they [the customers] can’t afford anything less than perfect delivery.” To know more, click here.

Source: optics.org

A Raman laser that emits picosecond pulses at 559 nm is said to be ideal for two-photon fluorescence microscopy.

Scientists looking for a simple and reliable source of short-pulse yellow light will be interested to hear of a 559 nm picosecond-pulsed source being developed in Australia. The laser emits 3.2 ps pulses and will allow researchers to use a wider range of biological tags in their two-photon fluorescence experiments. (Optics Express 17 569)

To know more, click here.

Source: optics.org

The economic downturn is making it even harder for start-up firms to raise investor cash, which makes it all the more impressive that Mobius Photonics has just closed a new round of financing worth some $20m. “It’s been a very up and down process, but we now have enough backing to expand and to take us through our next development phase,” said Laura Smoliar, CEO and founder of Mobius Photonics, when I spoke to her on the show floor.

At the heart of Mobius is a team of industry veterans from Quanta Ray and Lightwave Electronics, who are now putting their efforts into the development of high-power fibre-based lasers. The latest commercial release is an air-cooled laser system that delivers an average power of 10 W in the ultraviolet, and in a research paper presented at the conference the company demonstrated power scalability to 30 W at UV wavelengths. To know more, click here.

Source: BioOptics World, Mois de jan/fev 2009

Light-sheet microscopes reveals cells in action, p.6-7

Laser, optics loom large at Neuroscience 2008, p.8-10

States as bio boosters, p18-19

Photonics enters a period of high anxiety, .55-76

Source: Biophotonics, Jan.09

Un article en p.22 sur l’OCT, et en p.25 un second article:” Is OCT worth it”, avec une nouvelle image de pupille fournie par le Pr Andrew Lee de l’univerite de IOWA.

Source: Industrial Laser solutions

Photonics West, the annual SPIE-sponsored San Jose, California conference/tradeshow, closed on an upbeat note last week. Attendance figures (almost 18,000) for this decidedly photonics-oriented show topped last year’s record by a few hundred, a feat in an otherwise gloomy economic environment. Veteran show goers speculated before the opening that this year’s event would be a significant one as it is the first big, international laser tradeshow and any exhibitor/attendee drop-off could set the tone for a slower year for tradeshows. Click here to view video from the show.

On opening day the show floors quickly filled up with walk-in traffic and as the morning technical sessions broke for refreshments the aisles were packed with lookers and, it turns out, buyers. At the end of the day exhibitors catering to the scientific and R&D markets were very upbeat as they met with enthusiastic buyers with budgets. Because there was no fall-off in exhibits this meant that attendees were hard pressed to see the whole show in three days and that exhibitors collected numerous valuable leads. To know more, click here.

Source: Industrial Laser Solution

Years of experience observing the industrial laser market lead to the conclusion that this mature industry will survive economic hard times

by David A. Belforte

So what do you want from me? My crystal ball has a crack in it from overload of really bad economic news. The figures and numbers have disappeared from my Ouija board because of excessive planchette movement as I searched for inspiration from the “other side.” The Delphi Oracle has taken a long leave of absence so that I can’t bother her anymore, and there are no pictures left on my Tarot cards. Over the past few weeks my mood has had more ups and downs than the roller coasters at Six Flags. Resources I have used in the past have stopped answering my e–mails and phone calls looking for confirmation on the latest perturbations in the markets. My file of bad news clippings trumps the good news files by several inches. And you’re expecting a balanced and presumably accurate assessment of the market for industrial lasers in manufacturing?

Click here to enlarge image

As the head chef on the Titanic may have said, “It might have been worse; it could have happened before dinner was served,” proving that one can always find something slightly positive in a definitely negative situation. It all depends on your perspective.

As this report was being prepared, seven weeks ago, I was a little like the chef, looking for slivers of light in a rather dark environment. Encouraged by contrarian reports from several international machine tool trade shows, there wasn’t surprise that the initial market estimates for 2008 were only a few percent lower than projected last January, and that the 2008 numbers would reflect growth.

To know more, register online here.

A new technique pushes the boundaries of super-resolution light microscopy.

A revolution in light microscopy is letting scientists zoom in on structures never before visualized with visible light. New “super resolution” microscopy techniques under development in several labs allow scientists to view structures that were once too small to be seen under a light microscope, due to the inherent resolution limit imposed by the wavelength of light.

Scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Farm Research Campus recently announced the creation of a technique called interferometric photoactivated localization microscopy (iPALM), which allows them to create three-dimensional pictures of structures inside cells at the highest resolution yet seen with an optical microscope. (…)

John Sedat, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, says that the paper is a “tour de force” in pushing the resolution of light microscopes. But he adds that one of the trade-offs of using such high spatial resolution for biological imaging is that it currently requires cells to be killed and chemically fixed, so it can’t capture events in real time. The challenge for the field, Sedat says, is to bring together advances in spatial resolution with real-time imaging of live cells.

Gleb Shtengel, one of the leaders of the new technique, says that although the time required to combine multiple pictures makes it difficult to capture fast-paced events with iPALM, “we are planning to expand it to live cell images of slower-moving events.” To know more, click here.

Source: optics.org

Click here!

Source: optics.org

SiOnyx, the leading innovator in shallow junction photonics - a patented semiconductor process coined ‘black silicon’ that radically alters the photonic properties of semiconductor devices - has added several leading image sensor scientists and engineers to its team and opened an engineering office in Beaverton, Oregon.

Dr. Homayoon Haddad, previously Vice President of Advanced Sensor & Pixel Development for MagnaChip Semiconductor, has joined SiOnyx as Vice President of Device Engineering. Leading the company’s west coast team, Dr. Haddad is responsible for next generation shallow junction detector and image sensor development. During his tenure with MagnaChip, Dr. Haddad managed the development of 2.2, 1.7, and 1.4 µm pixel technologies and released the first 1.75 µm color BSI sensor in 2007. Prior to MagnaChip, Dr. Haddad spent more than 20 years at Hewlett Packard and Agilent where he held a variety of technology management and engineering roles. To know more, click here.