OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY UPDATE
June / July 2019
McIlvaine Company
Georgia Tech Research Institute Adds Specialized Tech Facilities
National Healthcare Photonics Centre Opens in UK
McCarthy Building Companies with Flad Architects acted as the design-build team.
Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has completed a $42 million redevelopment
project that includes two specialized technical facilities across 350,000 sq.
ft. on the Cobb South Campus in Marietta, Ga.
In December 2017, GTRI purchased four buildings on an unused 52-acre Lockheed
Martin site adjacent to Dobbins Air Reserve Base. The Institute selected
McCarthy Building Companies with Flad Architects as the design-build team to
quickly redevelop two of the buildings into the research facilities.
The project included renovating 205,500 sf of retired office space into a
research facility that features computing and electronics laboratories. It also
included the 144,500 sq. ft. renovation of a 403,500 sq. ft. high-bay industrial
warehouse, which GTRI will also use for research. The space incorporates two,
10-ton cranes and a 30-ton crane to handle heavy specialized large equipment.
The new space can house up to 600 personnel, which is enough room to grow for at
least five years.
Source Photonics Expands Fabs
Source Photonics has secured $100 million in funding to support its growing data
center and 5G business and to increase the scale of its operations. Planned
developments include the creation of a new laser fab, upgrades to existing
production facilities, and increased investment in the research and development
of next-generation technologies.
Upgrades to the company’s fabrication facility in Taiwan have already been
completed, and production operations have begun for a new fab in Jintan, China,
using the latest funding. The funds will also be used toward investments for
advanced coating technologies to enable next-generation lasers and transceivers
for the fast-growing 5G and data center markets.
Doug Wright, Source Photonics CEO, said the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual
reality, and cloud services are growing in popularity every day, increasing the
demand for the best service possible.
“These applications all depend on the next standard of connectivity and 5G
depends on the backing of a world-class optical network,” Wright said. “We are
extremely proud that our investors have shown this confidence in us and are
confident that the investment will support our ongoing work to enable the next
era of connectivity.”
The sales of optical components and modules to cloud companies reportedly grew
by 63 percent in 2016 and 64 percent in 2017. The growth rate is expected to
average roughly 20 percent annually through 2023. Higher growth rates in 2020 to
2022 will be driven by first volume deployments of 400 GbE. This is a result of
the rise of 5G and the cloud.
In order to keep up with demand, the new fabrication facility in Jintan will
support the industry's global growth. This is projected to double the company’s
capacity of indium phosphide (InP) lasers and related components and will
augment its existing fab in Hsinchu, Taiwan, which has doubled its output over
the past three years.
This investment follows recent expansions at the Taiwan facility that has been
producing lasers for more than 20 years. These expansions include significant
growth in MOCVD and advanced coating technologies. The Taiwan facility also
recently completed expansions to support transceiver assembly in support of
customers’ demands for resiliency in their supply chains.
The Jintan fabrication plant includes a fully integrated laser chip production
capability, high-precision TO operations, and an advanced research and
development facility to support its global technology roadmap and regional
customers. Source Photonics’ chip capabilities include base wafer, regrowth, and
chip processing, while its TO operations will support the advanced requirements
emerging for high-speed PON and 5G markets.
“These new investments support our integrated manufacturing approach, which is
critical to meeting the ever-growing needs of our customers,” Wright said.
“Managing the entire value chain from laser production through transceiver
assembly gives SP differentiated capability that enhances speed to market,
yields manufacturing innovations, and offers flexibility our customers demand.”
National Healthcare Photonics Centre Opens in UK
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) in the U.K. has officially opened its
state-of-the-art facility that will help develop next-generation light-based
health care treatments.
Based at NETPark in Sedgefield, England, the National Healthcare Photonics
Centre will support the advancement and commercialization of MedTech products
and provide a hub for businesses and academic partners to work on imaging
systems, innovative methods of diagnosing disease, and light-based treatment.
The two-story building encompasses more than 6500 sq. ft. and includes a suite
of specialist laboratories for optical system development and testing. The
facility also includes space for laser system applications development,
biomaterials handling and testing, ionizing radiation imaging and testing, 3D
printing, and electronics development and pilot manufacturing work.
In addition, the center features client office space to enable companies to
locate onsite and work on projects alongside CPI staff. The infrastructure was
created to enable businesses to drive forward innovative products and services
at reduced risk and with increased capital efficiencies, and to encourage large
companies to undertake more disruptive innovation in the health care market.
According to CPI, the National Healthcare Photonics Centre will provide
facilities and expertise to help companies of all sizes develop their
photonics-based technologies for health care, with an infrastructure to deliver
prototyping, scale-up, and validation of medical devices at the required quality
and consistency to feed into clinical validation studies.
The project officially broke ground on Nov. 10, 2017. The new center received
initial funding from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership as part of the
North East Growth Deal from the government.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
Tel: 847-784-0012; Fax:
847-784-0061
E-mail:
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