Dutch integrated optical transmission technology developer EFFECT Photonics held an open house June 1, 2022, to celebrate the launch of its Americas Headquarters at 3 Mill & Main Place, Suite 100, Maynard, MA. EFFECT Photonics plans to use the site to provide more direct support of customers in the Americas as well as boost the company as it enters a new phase of technology and product development.
James Regan, EFFECT Photonics’ CEO, said the Boston area provided an ideal fit for the regional offices because it offers a minimal time difference from the company’s corporate headquarters in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, proximity to an existing technology corridor and technology-inclined academic institutions (both of which Regan hopes will make hiring engineering talent easier), as well as access to the financial and research and analysis communities. “We’re here, we’re putting down footprint, we’re going to fill this room with engineers, and we’re coming,” he proclaimed during impromptu welcoming remarks at the open house.
The company currently houses approximately a dozen employees in Maynard; EFFECT Photonic sources stated they expect to have 20 to 25 engineers working in the facility when it is fully staffed. The new regional headquarters includes an open floorplan segment of office space, a pair of labs, and a product demonstration area. Regan said additional space is available for expansion. Coincidentally, the offices reside in the same building as Acacia Communications.
DSP deeds
The new facility opens as EFFECT Photonics enters an inflection point in its history, coming shortly after the acquisition of coherent DSP assets from ViaSat (see “EFFECT Photonics gets into the merchant coherent technology game with assets from Viasat”). Regan declined to speak about new product plans during the event but cited his desire to move coherent technology into a greater number of comparatively high-volume applications by pairing the newly acquired expertise with the company’s existing capabilities in the creation of photonic building blocks. EFFECT Photonics is able to deliver photonic functions (particularly tunable lasers) in small, low-power packages, he asserted, which should enable differentiation in both coherent and direct-detect modules. He reiterated that his company will offer DSP technology as a standalone product as well.
Regan was coy about offering timelines for when the fruits of the ViaSat acquisition will be brought to market. He noted that his new team was working on a project for what he described as a major systems house at the time of the acquisition. The team was told to finish that project as the first priority; however, Regan said the results of that project likely will prove useful to EFFECT Photonics as it charts its next course.
The ViaSat team resides in Ohio. Regan said there were no plans to move them to the new Maynard office.
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