TRUMPF Opens New Laser Factory in Connecticut

TRUMPF Inc. celebrates the grand opening of its Farmington, CT, Laser Innovation & Technical Excellence (LITE) building, a new research and manufacturing facility that will be used to develop new lasers and expand the company's production of laser resonators.

Atrenta India Announces New R&D Facility in India

Atrenta Inc., the leading provider of SoC Realization solutions for the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries, announced its recent relocation into an expanded R&D facility at A-12 & A-29, Sector-2, Noida, UP. The new facility houses Atrenta's current staff and meets near-term growth requirements, keeping pace with the company's global expansion plan.

The new state-of-the-art facility housed in a plush building exterior inspired by Brandenburg Gate-style architecture will house Atrenta's R&D and administration staff as well as the data center providing support to internal teams worldwide.

"We are delighted to announce the move to a new facility," said Sushil Gupta, vice president and managing director of Atrenta India. "High-class working spaces and better facilities in the new building provide a supportive atmosphere for our R&D and other teams as we focus on product development and expansion."

"Atrenta is truly a world-class company with top semiconductor and consumer customers, thousands of users, dozens of partners and sales and service locations around the world," said Dr. Ajoy Bose, chairman, president and CEO of Atrenta. "I am pleased that we have been able to build a top-notch organization while growing at a consistent pace over the years. This new facility will provide the right environment for developing industry-leading products and expanding our solutions."

SAMCO Expands in Silicon Valley

On April 15th 2013, SAMCO Inc, head quartered in Kyoto, Japan expanded its OPTO Films Research Laboratory in California’s Silicon Valley.

The firm did this to strengthen its research structure and after-sale process support.

Placing an emphasis on interaction with cutting edge research SAMCO is expanding its research and development activities at its three global R&D centers – The ‘Kyoto Research and Development Centre’; the Silicon Valley ‘OPTO Films Research Laboratory’; and ‘Cambridge Research Centre’ located in England’s Cambridge University.

SAMCO was the first Japanese venture company to open an R&D centre in the Silicon Valley. The OPTO Films Research and Development Centre in Silicon Valley was established in 1987 as SAMCO’s first overseas research and development centre.

Since its establishment it has lead the research of carbon type materials such as diamond thin films, diamond like carbon (DLC), and materials for electrodes etc., as well as the development of thin film deposition systems.

The facility also plays an important role in joint research with universities.

Highlighting SAMCO’s plans for business expansion and the strengthening of its research and development structure, the new facility is about twice as large as the one it replaces.

Also, in order to maximize research efficiency, the laboratory is again located in the Silicon Valley, a hub of company research centers and ventures.

The new laboratory is equipped with SAMCO CVD systems, dry etching systems, cleaning systems, and a suite of thin film measurement systems. Research will continue on thin films of carbon-based materials and new research will begin on MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) fabrication for the bio-medical industries. Recruitment of local researchers is also progressing, with plans for up to ten researchers to be based at the facility (currently six).

Along with the expansion of the Silicon Valley facilities, SAMCO has also increased sales personnel in its East Coast Sales and Service Office located in North Carolina’s ‘Research Triangle Park’. The new OPTO films Laboratory will play an important role, as a demo laboratory, in supporting the expansion of North American sales.

NanoCollege Moves on Old Station Deal

The UAlbany College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering plans to buy Kiernan Plaza — downtown Albany's historic former train station — through eminent domain so it can more quickly turn the property into a high-tech incubator.

The NanoCollege has been poised to acquire the building on Broadway after being awarded a $4 million grant from the state to fund the project. Clough Harbour & Associates, a Colonie-based engineering firm, agreed to move its headquarters and executive management to Kiernan Plaza to become the anchor tenant of the incubator, which hopes to become a model of urban revitalization through technology. But there are obstacles to acquiring the plaza, which is why eminent domain, a process by which the government acquires private property for the civic good, is being considered.

The building, built in 1899 and assessed by the city at $5.5 million, is collateral in a complex real estate financing deal unrelated to the NanoCollege project. Covenants in that loan prevent Kiernan Plaza's sale until 2019 under normal circumstances.

School officials say the building's owners, who run a large real estate investment fund, do not oppose the school's purchase of the building. The NanoCollege estimates the building's market value is about $3 million.

The NanoCollege has asked the Albany Industrial Development Agency to acquire the property through eminent domain. The investment fund owning the building would be paid a fair market value.

"The idea is that we want to get companies and people working downtown as soon as possible," NanoCollege spokesman Steve Janack says.

The Most Advanced Additive Manufacturing Laboratories in the U.S.

The University of Connecticut and Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies company, celebrated the opening of a new Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center at UConn, one of the most advanced additive manufacturing laboratories in the nation.

The Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center, a unique collaboration between UConn and Pratt & Whitney, will be used to further additive manufacturing research and development and is the first additive manufacturing facility in the Northeast to work with metals rather than plastics. The center also will be used to train a new generation of engineers and designers in the latest advancements in manufacturing technology.

"The University of Connecticut's outstanding technical capacity complements our fundamental research needs and will help us continue to grow our additive manufacturing capabilities," said Paul Adams, Pratt & Whitney's Chief Operating Officer. "Additive manufacturing is complimentary to traditional methods by enabling new innovation in design, speed and affordability, and is necessary to build the next generation of jet engines. We are currently using additive manufacturing to build complex components with extreme precision for the flight-proven PurePower® commercial jet engine."

Located on UConn's Depot Campus in Storrs, the Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center features the latest in 3-D manufacturing equipment and rapid prototyping technologies. It is home to two Arcam electron beam melting (EBM™) A2X model machines for the manufacturing of large, complex metal parts at high temperatures. The A2X models are the first to be introduced in North America and the two EBM machines are believed to be the first of their kind in the Northeast. The UConn center recently provided the first EBM on-site training for academic personnel and industry engineers in the United States.

Pratt & Whitney engineers and UConn faculty and students will use the center's resources to develop advanced fabrication techniques for complex production parts that are in high demand in aerospace, biomedical science, and other industries. Over time, the Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center at UConn is expected to elevate Connecticut industries' production capabilities, reduce manufacturing times, eliminate material waste and allow for the creation of a new generation of intricate, light-weight, and durable custom products.

"This unique partnership between Pratt & Whitney and UConn is an excellent example of the innovation and collaboration that will drive Connecticut's future economic success," said UConn President Susan Herbst. "The new Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center will allow us to push into new frontiers of manufacturing and materials science while training a new generation of engineers in some of the world's most sophisticated manufacturing technology."

Pratt & Whitney invested more than $4.5 million in the Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Center and over the next five years will invest an additional $3.5 million in the facility. In 2010, Pratt & Whitney established a research Center of Excellence at the University of Connecticut. The Pratt & Whitney Center of Excellence at UConn focuses on fundamental and applied research initiatives that support the design and development of more efficient gas turbine engines. UConn's primary research is in the field of advanced sensors, diagnostics, and controls.

The new Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center supports President Obama's Advanced Manufacturing Partnership initiative. This initiative, launched in 2011, encourages innovative collaborations between industry, universities and the federal government in order to increase the nation's global competitiveness by improving existing manufacturing capabilities through the development of advanced materials, components and technologies.

As a teaching and research center, the new facility will assume a pivotal place in UConn's new Technology Park scheduled to open in 2015 in Storrs. The University of Connecticut is developing new degree concentrations and a new curriculum associated with additive manufacturing. The additive manufacturing innovation center also will host workshops and training sessions for students and engineers interested in the latest technology. Other Connecticut manufacturers will be invited to explore additive manufacturing for their own product design and development.

Additive manufacturing is transforming industry today by allowing for new innovations in design, speed and affordability. It is complimentary to traditional manufacturing, which is a "subtractive" process in which parts are made when raw metal is ground down into a shape engineers need. This process generates a large amount of material waste and often requires the assembly of multiple dependent parts to produce a single component.

The Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center at UConn uses advanced powder bed manufacturing technologies and high-powered electron beams and lasers to repeatedly melt fine layers of powdered metals like titanium into one solid integrated piece. This layer-by-layer "additive" process allows for the creation of extremely complex three-dimensional objects without the constraints of the traditional manufacturing process. Additive manufacturing dramatically reduces production time from design to prototyping to finished product and results in components with material properties better than cast. It also reduces the amount of raw material used and the need for tooling as parts can be made on-demand and on-site. Additive manufacturing has near limitless potential applications and can be used for a wide range of products - from advanced turbine components for jet engines to personalized prosthetic implants for patients who need them.

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