Tremendous interest in MPC cluster event
The MPC July 2002 networking event was well attended bringing together 50 companies and organisations dedicated to supporting the cluster.

Launch of European space incubators network
The MPC is delighted to announce that it has secured a strategic partnership with the European Space Incubator Network (ESINET) which is supported by the European Space Agency and the European Commission.

MPC invited to BT Research Laboratories
The MPC has been invited to bring a select group of MPC members to meet the BT photonics research and development team at Adastral Park, Ipswich.

MPC hosts NPL Image Analysis group meeting
The MPC is pleased to announce that it will host a joint meeting with the Image Analysis and Microscopy special interest group from the National Physics Laboratory on the 16th October at Aston Science Park.

Update to www.midlandsphotonicscluster.org
The MPC website is undergoing a significant transformation to provide even more news, information and search tools via a secure login facility giving members access to:

Arden Photonics secures AWM award
The MPC is delighted to announce their support for Arden Photonics in securing an Innovation Network grant from AWM.

IST Optics develops LED lighting system
A second MPC cluster consortium secures an AWM Innovations Network awards to develop a highly innovative LED lighting control and entertainment system.

In future editions the Company Spotlight feature will highlight details on a cluster member organisation. To suggest your company to be spotlighted please contact the MPC team at info@midlandsphotonicscluster.org

Davin to re-launch the 'Ealing' Catalogue
Davin Optronics Ltd, a founding member of the MPC has acquired the optics and opto-mechanics product lines of Coherent Inc.'s eStore and re-launched the 'Ealing' Catalogue.

New £12m Link programme
A new link programme with £12m of Government support for collaborative projects in Information Storage and Displays (ISD) has been launched by the DTI/EPSRC team that manages the Optical Systems for the Digital Age (OSDA).

6th European Framework Programme
In addition to Link funding Brussels is preparing to administer another dose of funding to European research via the 6th Framework Programme (FP6), and the good news for MPC members is that photonics looks set to play an important role. The total budget for research has been fixed at €17.5 bn and the first call for FP6-specific project proposals will take place this November, with projects launching from March 2003.

British Midlands Success at InterOpto 2002, Japan
The British Midlands Japan team (a joint venture between East Midlands Development Agency and Advantage West Midlands) recently attended InterOpto 2002 at Makuhari Messe, Japan - the largest optoelectronics technology event in the country.

High Brightness LED patent dispute comes to an end
Japanese LED makers Nichia and Toyoda Gosei have agreed to open negotiations towards a settlement in their long-running patent dispute.

18th July 02 - MPC cluster meeting held at Aston Science Park with Optimat and Connect Midlands as key speakers.

29th August 02 - MPC visit to BTexact laboratories - The MPC has been invited to bring a select group to meet the BTexact photonics team at the R+D labs based in Ipswich.

1st September 02 - The MPC will participate in the UKCPO board meeting ahead of the Photon02 conference.

2nd and 3rd September 02 - Photonex Exhibition, Cardiff - The MPC will be exhibiting on stand C24 at Photonex. Please come along for refreshments and a chat, we will be delighted to see you.

9th to 11th September 02 - ECOC, Copenhagen - The MPC will be exhibiting on stand 135 jointly with Oxford Lasers.

19th September 02 - Joint meeting at Stevenage Business Initiative with ESINET to explore DTI funding opportunities within the basic technologies programme.

Click here to view all the MPC Diary 18th July 2002 - 16th October 2002

Welcome to the new products section. This section has been heavily over subscribed so please inform the MPC team as early as possible on new product releases to avoid disappointment.

Agilent Launches Next Generation Tester
Agilent Technologies, a leader in optical test equipment is to launch its parallel bit error rate tester (ParBERT) focussed in metropolitan network applications such as next generation SONET/SDH, carrier class Ethernet, DWDM and intelligent optical networks and MPLS.GMPLS .

Pattern Generator
LA Techniques Ltd has released the LA19-02-01 12 Gb/s pattern generator.

Tunable Fiber Raman Laser
IPF Technology Ltd has recently launched a new series of Fiber Raman lasers which are continuously tunable over a 70 nm wavelength range.

Infared Camera
Spectronic Devices introduces its newest spectroscopy product, a line camera based upon a cooled InGaAs linear array for infrared detection up to 2.6µm.

Telecom Eco System
The following article has been kindly supplied by Jonathan Mees of Agilent Technologies.
You don't need a degree in product Marketing to realise that business opportunities within the Telecomm Market are radically different today than they were two years ago.

One of the many member benefits is access to the fully equipped cluster labs, these include specialist areas of:

High Speed Photographic Imaging Labs
The VisiLase V227 includes the highest data-rate digital camera in the world. It is capable of taking high speed movies at up to 60 000 frames per second. When replayed at normal video rates, this corresponds to 2 400 times slow motion.

Micro-mesure Non-contact surface analysis
The Micro-mesure 3 axis, 3 D surface mapping system features the passive "optical pen" measurement head and high resolution translation stages giving better than 0,1 µm resolution in x, y and z.

Colour Photometric LAB facilities
The MPC photometric laboratory enables its members to access the latest computer controlled photometric testing equipment.

Test and measurement systems
The Midlands Photonics Cluster lab facilities posses an excellent selection of test and measurement equipment including the latest EXFO instrument.

MPC News