Asynt Opens San Francisco Office; BAE Selected to Provide Space Force Prototype: Week in Brief: 3/1/24

BAE Systems has been selected by the Space Systems Command (SSC) Space Enterprise Consortium to provide a prototype ground system for the U.S. Space Force’s SSC Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution Command and Control (FORGE C2) project. FORGE C2 will integrate functionality such as telemetry, tracking, command, flight dynamics, mission management, and ground resource management into a consolidated framework that will facilitate the integration of next-generation assets as they come online. BAE Systems was one of four companies chosen to take part in phase one of the project, which was focused on integration and demonstration of prototype capabilities.

TORONTO — Xanadu, a photonic quantum computing company, has received a repayable contribution of $3.8 million CAD ($2.8 million) from the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, to help companies advance and commercialize their quantum products. This funding, issued through the Regional Quantum Initiative (RQI), will accelerate the development of PennyLane, Xanadu's open-source, cloud-based software framework for quantum machine learning, quantum chemistry, and quantum computing.

Asynt Inc, CEO Rob Maddox (left) and vice president Martyn Fordham. Courtesy of Asynt Inc.

ISLEHAM, U.K. — Provider of scientific research technologies Asynt Inc. has opened a new office in the San Francisco Bay Area. Heading the U.S. operations as CEO and president is Rob Maddox who will help to establish and expand Asynt’s footprint in the North American market. The Bay Area office will serve as a hub for Asynt’s North American operations, providing a central location to collaborate with customers, distributors, and partners.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Open XR Optics Forum has made available its initial MSA specifications for Open XR Optics-compliant 400G transceivers. The specifications have been developed through the collaborative effort of the Forum's transceiver working group comprising 11 Open XR Optics Forum member companies. The purpose of the specifications is to establish guidelines for multi-vendor interoperability and multi-sourcing implementations of Open XR Optics-compliant coherent transceiver modules. All Open XR Optics Forum specifications leverage existing standards wherever possible.

PITTSBURGH — Aerotech Inc., a motion control and automation developer, is expanding its partnership with Korean distributor ANI Motion Tech with the development of a manufacturing and research facility that will be located in Korea’s Songdo Knowledge Information Industrial Complex. The facility, which will be owned and operated by ANI Motion Tech, will primarily produce precision motion control and automation equipment for the semiconductor and display markets. Construction is expected to begin in March 2024.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Polymer optical components and systems designer Apollo Optical Systems has partnered with optics solution provider SilvaCo Optics to serve as Apollo’s sales representative for all new business in California. SilvaCo has worked with companies such as Alphabet, Apple, BD, Coherent, and Uber for their optics/photonics needs and applications.

BARCELONA, Spain — Spectricity, a spectral sensing solutions developer, is collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. for Spectricity to develop native reference design support for use with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile platforms and Spectricity’s spectral image sensor products. The collaboration will allow for a faster, more efficient implementation for OEMs to integrate spectral imaging in their mobile devices. An evaluation and software development kit featuring compatibility with Spectricity’s S1 spectral image sensor is expected to be available from Spectricity in 2024.

Avegant’s wireless AI smart glasses, featuring Applied Materials’ waveguides and Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon platform. Courtesy of Avegant.

SAN MATEO, Calif. — Avegant, an AR display technology developer, is collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Applied Materials, Inc. to create a blueprint for lightweight, wireless AI smart glasses. The glasses will feature Avegant's AG-30L2 30° liquid crystal-on-silicon light engine along with Applied Materials' high-efficiency waveguides and Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 platform, to deliver full color, binocular, bright daylight-capable functionality.

Professor Yonuk Chong (left) of the SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology and professor Robert Hadfield of the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering. Courtesy of the University of Glasgow.

GLASGOW, U.K. — Researchers from the University of Glasgow have partnered with Sung Kyung Kwan University (SKKU) in South Korea on a five-year joint research center in superconducting electro-optic technology for near-infrared single photon counting project (JOSEON) that aims to develop cutting-edge quantum devices. The researchers will work together to create next-generation superconducting photon detectors for demanding applications such as secure quantum communication networks in optical fiber and space. The project will be co-led by Robert Hadfield of the University of Glasgow and Yonuk Chong of SKKU.