Leonardo DRS Receives $117M Weapon Sights Order: Week in Brief: 8/30/24

Leonardo DRS, Inc., a provider of defense technology, has received an order for continued production of its thermal weapon sights for the U.S. Army. Valued at $117 million, the production order was made under the current Family of Weapon Sights – Individual (FWS-I) contract. FWS-I is a stand-alone, clip-on weapon sight that connects wirelessly to helmet-mounted vision systems including night vision goggle binoculars and integrated visual augmentation systems. It gives users the ability to acquire targets day or night and in a range of degraded environmental conditions.

The FWS-I weapon sight. Courtesy of Leonardo DRS.

JENA, Germany — The Innovation Center for Quantum Optics and Sensor Technology (InQuoSens), based at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Technische Universität Ilmenau, has received a €6.3 million (~$7 million) grant from the government of Thuringia to develop quantum photonic integrated circuits (Q-PICs) towards commercial utilization by industry. With the funding, InQuoSens will research Q-PICs alongside collaborators at the Abbe Center of Photonics in Jena and the Institute for Micro- and Nanotechnologies in Ilmenau.

FREMONT, Calif. — Optical networking forum OIF has concluded its Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting with the creation of three new projects for advancing networking technologies. The EEI COI Project for AI Scale-up will focus on developing low-latency interfaces to support AI hardware, the EEI-224G-RTLR Project will concentrate on enhancing electrical interfaces to enable lower power 224 G optical signaling, and the CEI-448G Framework Project will develop a comprehensive framework for 448 G electrical interfaces.

Heriot-Watt University professors and staff on the Quantum Communications Hub Optical Ground Station (HOGS) work site. Courtesy of Heriot-Watt University.

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Heriot-Watt University has started construction on its Quantum Communications Hub Optical Ground Station (HOGS). Worth a total £2.5 million ($3.3 million), HOGS is a telescope that will test satellite quantum secure communications and unlock new research on space environmentalism alongside innovative R&D activities for future laser communication networks. HOGS is scheduled to be fully operational by late autumn.

MECHELEN, Belgium — Spectricity, a fabless semiconductor company and imec spin-off, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Lululab, an AI-based company, outlining their collaboration to demonstrate skin analysis applications based on multispectral imaging technology for mobile devices. The collaboration will combine Spectricity's multispectral imaging cameras with Lululab’s AI-based skin analysis platform to reveal previously hidden skin condition data and enable future smart skin care and personalized recommendations for consumers.

The TrueView 720 integrated into the Xer X8 UAV platform. Courtesy of Xer Technologies.

MADISON, Ala. — Lidar mapping hardware and software company GeoCue has integrated its TrueView 720 lidar and imagery sensor with hybrid-electric drone manufacturer Xer Technologies’ Xer X8 UAV platform. The combination of the long-range, heavy-payload Xer X8 and the GeoCue TrueView 720 enables high-quality point cloud and imagery data collection over challenging terrains.

Senior director of Arizona State University’s quantum networking Joe Lukens, one of the leads in the collaboration. Courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories has entered into a collaboration with Arizona State University on the development of quantum technology and the transformation of large-scale optical systems into compact integrated microsystems. Funded by Arizona State University’s Quantum Collaborative, the collaboration has so far been awarded $17 million from a grand challenge program called Error-Corrected Photonic Integrated Qubits to advance work in frequency-based quantum photonics. The funding will enable large-scale implementation and integration of device physics explored in an earlier collaboration to create a photonic qubit that can be error-corrected.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has given quantum researchers at the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University a $1 million grant to research the development of a photonic quantum computer that can operate at room temperature. The quantum computer is part of a pilot program titled “Quantum Computing Applications of Photonics,” which is one of five nationwide to receive funding as part of the NSF’s National Quantum Virtual Laboratory, a national program to enable the development of quantum technologies. The first year of research will focus on the development of key components of a Gaussian boson sampling computer, including electrically pumped quantum dots that will emit entangled photon pairs and dynamically biased avalanche photodiodes.

HAMILTON, Ontario — CMC Microsystems, a hardware accelerator and facilitator, has partnered with McMaster University to research and develop new processes and training programs in the field of semiconductors and photonics. The collaboration will see CMC join McMaster Innovation Park — Canada’s research and innovation park supporting startups, business, and research — and builds upon an earlier established partnership with Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada for semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Industrial developer of laser cleaning systems Laser Photonics Corporation has received a notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market that the company no longer complies with the Nasdaq's listing rules. The notice comes as Laser Photonics has failed to file its Form 10-Q at the end of the quarter. The company has 60 calendar days to submit a plan and will be granted an exception of up to an additional 180 calendar days from the filing's due date, or until Feb. 17, 2025, to regain compliance if the plan is accepted.