News

9 December 2009

 

Belfast spin-off Lamhroe to design GaAs MMICs for OMMIC

Lamhroe, a recent spinout of Queen’s University Belfast’s Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT), has been contracted by III-V foundry OMMIC SAS of Limeil-Brévannes, near Paris, France to design gallium arsenide monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for use in a range of wireless communications, space and imaging applications.

The start-up will have direct access to research, design and prototyping resources at ECIT’s high-frequency electronics (HFE) division, where managing director Dr Mark Kelly is principal engineer and co-founder professor Vincent Fusco is head of research.

The HFE research team is said to be one of the largest groups of its kind in the UK and Ireland, with an international reputation for developing generic solutions to advanced problems associated with wireless front-end technology.

The team has a long association with OMMIC (which was formed in 2000 as Philips Microwave Limeil but divested by Philips in mid-2007). In 2005 the team was designated one of the French firm’s European Centres of Excellence for MMIC amplifier design.

In addition to the OMMIC design contract, Lamhroe is close to finalizing several other deals, says Kelly. Kelly has also won an Invest Northern Ireland Industrial Enterprise Fellowship, which will allow him to concentrate on developing new business opportunities over the coming year.

As well as providing design services, the firm also plans to build and sell a range of ultra-high-frequency, microwave and millimetre-wave modules. It aims to market these primarily through Amideon of Limerick, Ireland, an electronics/technology transfer company that holds shares in Lamhroe. Components will be manufactured in-house to the prototype and demonstrator stage.

Lamhroe’s strengths lie in the tight coupling to high-quality engineers and equipment at ECIT, says Kelly. “We are working very closely with ECIT to market our combined experience and identify opportunities that will with not only generate orders for Lamhroe but also help to attract academic funding for ECIT,” he adds.

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