Insights: Headwall Photonics plans MetroWest expansion
Courtesy
Chris Van Veen, marketing manager, Headwall Photonics.
Headwall Photonics manufactures devices whose sight extends further than the human eye can see. The Fitchburg company’s imaging spectrometers can detect things far beyond the surface level, revealing everything from cancerous cells in the brain to intricate details in historical manuscripts. Products are so in demand that the company is undergoing an expansion into the MetroWest region this fall.
Marketing manager Christopher Van Veen spoke about doing business abroad, demand in the medical field, and the challenge of finding qualified workers.
What's the breakdown of your business?
About 50 percent of our business comes from what are called ‘remote sensing’ applications. Under this umbrella are precision agriculture, geological research, infrastructure inspection (bridges, dams), pollution analysis and climatology. The remainder is split between advanced machine vision (inspecting recycled plastics as well as berries and nuts along high-speed lines), medical/biotech (scanning for brain cancer non-invasively) and aerospace/defense (intelligence/reconnaissance/surveillance from aircraft and satellites).
Headwall serves end users in these markets, but it also serves OEMs with optical diffraction gratings and optical subsystems that they use in the production of their instruments. A grating is a very precisely engineered component with microscopic grooves that help manage and shape reflected light. Every hyperspectral imaging sensor that Headwall makes has one of these Headwall-produced gratings, which differentiates the company from most others. Companies that make color measurement equipment typically buy Headwall gratings and optical modules because they are recognized to be exceptionally precise. Precision is fundamental to collecting and managing reflected light, and then managing the data that results.
What sets your imaging spectrometers apart?
Headwall’s sensors are very precise instruments that can see beyond the wavelength of normal human vision (which cuts out at around 700 nanometers). They collect reflected light from a scene or field of view using a diffraction grating, and interpret the image data across hundreds of spectral bands. A sensor comprises the grating and reflecting mirrors as part of the spectrometer, and then marries a camera to it to record the image data onto a focal plane array (FPA).
The visible-near-infrared (VNIR) range is about 400-1000nm, so a sensor peaking there sees quite a bit beyond human vision. The shortwave infrared (SWIR) range is even further out, running from 900-2500nm. Headwall can build sensors ‘tuned’ to the spectral range of interest, which is a function of what scientists need to see. For example, a crop scientist wishing to see if there are any telltale signs of a disease on his trees would fly a UAV (drone) equipped with a hyperspectral sensor. As long as the spectral signature of the disease condition is known, the sensor will see it and record that data with sub-pixel accuracy, practically to the leaf level.
Along inspection lines for food (poultry, nuts, berries), Headwall’s hyperspectral imaging sensors can detect foreign material and then communicate with robotic systems to eliminate the offending pieces no matter how small they are or how similar in color they may be to good product. The result is a new set of eyes for the food industry, which commonly relies on human inspectors or older, less-precise camera systems. Hyperspectral imaging sensors are becoming a new tool in the tool belt for the food inspection industry.
In the medical industries, hyperspectral imaging can effectively detect the presence of cancerous brain cells so that surgeons can be very precise with removal. The European HELICoiD project features Headwall’s hyperspectral imaging sensors for just this purpose, and trials have been very successful.
Other areas where Headwall’s spectral imaging solutions are at use include color measurement and the inspection of historical manuscripts, artifacts, and maps. For color measurement (such as Lowe’s when you buy paint), a spectrometer is at the heart of the systems equipment manufacturers use. While Headwall produces imaging sensors for applications described above, the underlying spectral engines also are sold to OEMs who then use them in their own equipment. Headwall’s reputation for very high spatial and spectral resolution comes from its role as a vertically integrated manufacturer that makes all elements of the system. Many competitors outsource certain aspects of their sensor production, which lessens quality control to a degree.
In museums and libraries that wish to learn more about the valuable artifacts and treasures in their collections, hyperspectral imaging sensors can determine the specifics about pigments used in ancient paints (leading to better dating accuracy). Also, it is a technique that can discover hidden writings that present themselves when seen at spectral wavelengths beyond the visible.
Where are you seeing the largest areas of growth?
The medical arena comprising diagnosis and pharmaceuticals is fertile ground for the adoption of hyperspectral imaging. Hyperspectral imaging was originally conceived for military/aerospace/reconnaissance missions aboard high-flying aircraft and satellites. But Headwall has taken what was a large, cumbersome and costly technology and made it smaller, lighter and more affordable. This commercialization effort puts the technology into new hands for the first time, so education about its capabilities is very important. These instruments go far beyond what traditional cameras can deliver.
In remote sensing, we see continued growth in precision agriculture as the adoption of UAVs increases. The UAV becomes a useful platform on which to mount specialized instruments such as hyperspectral sensors and all the companion items that help deliver a data-rich picture of the scene. These companion instruments include GPS and LiDAR. The challenge of integrating everything is something that Headwall can do for customers, and it saves them time and money when we manage the synergy among all the bits and pieces of an airborne image-gathering solution.
How do you recruit new employees, and what positions are you currently hiring for?
Headwall’s hyperspectral imaging sensors are packed with electronics and optics, which means we need a demonstrated balance of both in the candidates we hire for engineering and production roles. For sales and product management positions, where openings now exist, we prefer to see experience in electro-optics as well, but also good familiarity across the industries we serve. For example, a background in or knowledge of spectroscopy is very important. For our currently available product management positions in the medical/biotech and remote sensing segments, we like to see experience in those markets so that we can identify needs and have solutions ready that meet those needs.
What are your major initiatives right now? Are you making any big investments, or looking to expand into any specific markets?
On the horizon is going to be a very successful push into the medical market space because this area is beginning to see that hyperspectral imaging sensors can deliver a level of image specificity and resolution that other techniques can’t. From detecting cancerous brain cells to inspecting active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), the technology has reached a level of maturity in the commercial space so that it can be deployed now. Even in cellular microscopy, a hyperspectral sensor can play a very vital role in diagnosing tumors and cancerous cells. Headwall is laying the foundation for this push now.
Headwall’s current and anticipated growth will necessitate an expansion into new space by early fall, at a location in MetroWest. The Fitchburg operation with much of its gratings-based metrology and production will remain. But office space and system-level assembly will migrate to the new location.
To respond to growth in global opportunities, Headwall has hired and continues to recruit exceptional sales talent. A new Asia-Pacific/South America regional manager joined Headwall early in the spring, and internal sales personnel continue to join the team.
How do international operations affect your bottom line?
Because of the nature of Headwall’s instrumentation, export licenses are required in many cases. Demand for the company’s hyperspectral sensors is global and across remote sensing, machine vision and medical/biotech applications.
We opened up Headwall BVBA in Belgium three years ago to help expedite the production and delivery of systems destined for these worldwide customers. Headwall has a network of reseller organizations that are exceptionally well versed in our technology. At present the number of international companies selling on Headwall’s behalf numbers about 25, with more being planned. It is important that we train the personnel at these companies sufficiently so that they can then take the lead as sales opportunities arise.
Toward that end, Headwall is running two sales conferences this year (one in Asia and another in Europe) where representatives can learn about new products and evolving applications. Headwall not only takes a proactive approach with its resellers on training but also in promotion. Many of the conferences that Headwall exhibits at are located outside the United States.
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