OIDA News - December 2007
President’s Letter
As we all prepare for the holiday season, I would like to reflect on a major event for OIDA this year, our 16th Annual Forum on Optoelectronics, which was held in Washington DC in early December.
With over 100 attendees, the feedback we received form this year’s forum has been no less than terrific! However, I did receive one black mark! I have been told in the past that watching me speak is like drinking from a fire hose! Ah – all that data I show! This year was no exception as I quickly covered optoelectronics from displays, to lighting, to communications, to solar and many other exciting areas for opportunities.
My talk focused on green photonics (OIDA will hold a forum on this in September), plastic photonics (OIDA will cover this subject in more detail in the 2008 market report and at PhAST in CLEO), and 100 G and beyond (what’s next for the networking community as capacity demand increases quickly due to video-based services).
The message to me was clear: we should convey our findings of the optoelectronic markets in more places throughout the forum, and take more time in doing it. I get it… slow down!
Key findings and observations from the 16th Annual Forum include:
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1. Government:
- DARPA, represented by Deputy Director Bob Leheny, MTO Director John Zolper, and Program Manager Jag Shah, noted that the current UPR (Universities Photonics Research) program is finishing and DARPA is looking for leading edge photonic ideas to help design follow-on programs together with industry involvement and support.
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2. Government:
- In the government funding of optoelectronics panel, Optoelectronics Program Director Ron Hui noted that photonics ranked 4th out of 12 technology programs at NSF this year. The leading technologies at NSF in 2007 seem to be energy (both transmission and generation) and bio related.
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3. Government:
- NIST ATP Director (and TIPS acting Director) Marc Stanley spoke about the transition of the ATP (where photonics projects have been supported strongly over the last decade) to the new program called TIPS. Attendees at the forum heard how this new program would benefit leading edge technological programs in 2008. Initial funding may reach $100M in 2008 depending on House and Senate approval. Marc has asked OIDA to assist with organizing one of the workshops in the spring.
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4. Industry:
- Telcordia Group Senior VP David Sincoskie remarked on the drive for more media rich services as the networks grow to accommodate consumer needs and desires over the next decade. Intelligent networked products that are appearing on the marketplace today will grow quickly to permit more efficient lifestyle choices in a decade.
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5. Industry:
- Jo Major, President and CEO of Avanex, remarked that the consolidation of component level companies in the communications space has still not occurred, even though the bubble was nearly seven years ago. Jo indicated that there are now growing problems in areas of IP infringement that are adversely affecting US-based corporations. OIDA hopes to form a committee in this area of representatives from affected companies and will be looking to assist the industry on this matter in 2008.
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6. Industry:
- Jerry Rawls, President and CEO of Finisar, remarked on the problems Finisar is having with fake GBIC fiber optic transceivers they have discovered at their customers’ premises. Photos were shown of two GBIC transceivers that looked identical from the outside, but only one was manufactured by Finisar. It would seem that the Rolex and Gucci phenomenon of low cost replicas has now reached the photonics community. The concern is that this may be the tip of the iceberg and many companies in the photonics business may be suffering revenue loss from exact ‘fakes.’
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7. Industry:
- Terry Unter, President and CEO of Mintera, talked about his company’s experience in trying to position and differentiate itself in a highly technical and competitive photonics environment – 40 Gbps. The basic message conveyed was to stick with it – there will be good and bad times, but in the end the folks who really focus and persevere will ultimately have the best chance to find that magic exit, be it an IPO or acquisition by a larger entity.
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8. Industry:
- Bill Shiner, VP Industrial Markets of IPG, gave us an update of how high power lasers are being utilized by the heavy industries throughout the world. One of the messages conveyed was that the individual laser device performance was critical for the future. A single high power emitter that has very high efficiency and can be combined for high output power serves as a great solution for the industrial community. We have since coined the term “industrial surgery” and OIDA will be exploring more in this segment in 2008.
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9. Academia:
- The current DARPA UPR centers presented the key aspects of their work in a poster session at the reception on the first day of the forum. OIDA forum attendees were to some degree surprised at the level of advanced photonics research work that was going on in the community. Exposing the UPR center research to senior industry members received positive feedback because it gave industry a peek at what’s coming down the pike in a few years.
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Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous New Year!
Michael
