Quantifi Photonics Acquires SmarTest Electronics: Week in Brief: 04/15/22

Amplitude, a developer and manufacturer of medical, scientific, and industrial lasers, merged its two North American divisions — Continuum Electro-Optics Inc. in Milpitas, Calif., and Amplitude Laser, formerly of Cambridge, Mass. — to become Amplitude Laser Inc. The merger and name change mark the final step in enjoining the company’s U.S. presence to Amplitude’s corporate operations in Bordeaux, France. With the Amplitude Laser/Cambridge, Mass. operations shuttered, the North American division of Amplitude Laser Inc. will operate solely from Milpitas.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Quantifi Photonics completed its acquisition of SmarTest Electronics, a designer and manufacturer of high-speed test and measurement equipment used in optical communication, semiconductor manufacturing, and defense and aerospace industries. The acquisition includes R&D and manufacturing facilities in the city of Buriram, Thailand. SmarTest Electronics founder Federico Lipparini and James Zhang will stay on in the newly formed subsidiary, Quantifi Photonics Thailand.

GOLDEN, Colo. — Vescent Photonics was awarded a $1.25 million Direct-to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop a fully stabilized, multigigahertz-repetition rate optical frequency comb. Octave Photonics will act as a subcontractor, supplying its COSMO Comb Offset Stabilization Module for the detection of offset frequency (ƒCEO), which in turn will be stabilized using Vescent control electronics.

DRESDEN, Germany — A consortium of 14 industrial and academic institutes led by quantum startup Q.ANT will build a quantum computer under a five-year project titled PhoQuant. The €50 million ($53.88 million) project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which has pledged approximately €42 million ($45.26 million), with the remaining €8 million ($8.62 million) to be provided by consortium partners. The funding will be used to build a demonstration and test facility for photonic quantum computer chips and other quantum computing components.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Ultivue, a developer of multiplexing tools for tissue biomarker analysis, and Paige, an AI-based diagnostic software company, will partner on the development and marketing of AI-powered spatial immunophenotype capabilities to pharmaceutical and research customers. Collaborative efforts will initially focus on the development of AI to enable improved understanding of the tumor microenvironment and support the interpretation of Ultivue’s multiplex immunofluorescence immune-oncology biomarker panels.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Navitar, a provider of industrial and life science imaging technology, announced upgrades to its Rochester manufacturing facility to increase production capacity. Space reallocation, equipment purchases, and in-house fabrication of key parts will help fulfill orders amid supply chain disruptions, the company said.

TRENTON, N.J. — Teledyne Princeton Instruments and Teledyne Photometrics are now industrial partners in the Innovation Ecosystem of the Center for Quantum Networks (CQN), a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. The CQN seeks to lay the technical and social foundations of the quantum internet. As part of the Innovation Ecosystem, Teledyne provides products used in various aspects of the quantum industry, including sensing, computing, networking, and basic research.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced $25 million in federal funding to spur a new phase in the partnership between GlobalFoundries and PsiQuantum. The funding, secured as a part of the recently passed fiscal year 2022 spending package, will expand research and development spearheaded out of the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y., to manufacture and test photonic quantum computing technology.

UPPSALA, Sweden — IMINT Image Intelligence a developer of video enhancement software, partnered with IoT and mobile communication device manufacturer SIM Technology to elevate the video performance of its AR headsets and head-worn cameras across various industrial applications. SIM Technology manufactured products using IMINT’s Vidhance software will be released in 2022. Specific IMINT Vidhance solutions, including Vidhance Video Stabilization and Vidhance Dynamic Motion Blur Reduction, will be pre-integrated into select SIM Technology AR products.

POWAY, Calif. — Vitrek, a developer of high-voltage test and measurement equipment and board-level data acquisition systems, entered into an agreement to acquire MTI Instruments, a manufacturer of sophisticated test and measurement equipment, for $10.75 million. MTI’s precision tools, systems, and solutions are used in noncontact metrology, position, displacement, and vibration applications within the design, QA/QC, manufacturing, production, test, and research markets. Vitrek will acquire 100% of the common stock of MTI.