ASTRO America, Northrop Grumman and others partnered up to accelerate the production schedule and reduce the cost of manufacturing subsonic missiles. Elsewhere, Intel and Applied Materials are shaking hands over AI computing-related jobs. In this edition of It's Just Business, we've rounded up four recent deals.

Acquisition: Thermo Systems, a control systems integration company serving data center, energy and life sciences markets, has acquired New Jersey-based PKM Panel Systems, a panel fabrication company, to expand its manufacturing and prefabrication capabilities. The acquisition brings industrial control panel design, fabrication and testing capabilities in-house, strengthening Thermo Systems' ability to manage automation and process control projects and improve supply chain resilience.

“This acquisition is a natural next step in a partnership that has been built over many years,” said Eric Silk, CEO of Thermo Systems, in an October press release. “PKM has been an extension of our team for almost 30 years. By bringing their talented team and capabilities into Thermo Systems, we are strengthening our ability to deliver high-quality solutions, improve schedule certainty, enhance supply chain resiliency, and better support the growing needs of our customers.” 

Partnership: Xanadu, a photonic quantum computing company, has entered a multiyear partnership with semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries to scale production of photonic components used in quantum computing, including silicon nitride photonics and superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. The companies will work to industrialize these technologies using GlobalFoundries' 300-millimeter production line in Malta, N.Y., moving beyond laboratory-scale prototyping toward commercial-scale manufacturing.

“Partnering with GlobalFoundries allows Xanadu to refine and scale up our existing industry-leading photonics platform and apply GF’s industrial expertise and technology to our photonic chip production,” said Dr. Christian Weedbrook, founder and CEO of Xanadu, in an October press release. “This partnership demonstrates our focus on execution and seeks to provide the reliable, precision-manufactured infrastructure necessary to transition quantum technology from the research environment to commercial-scale data centers.” 

Partnership: Applied Materials, a supplier of materials engineering solutions for semiconductor manufacturing, and Intel, the semiconductor manufacturer, are collaborating to develop next-generation transistors, interconnects and advanced packaging technologies for AI computing. The work will combine research at Applied Materials' EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and Intel's research and development campus in Hillsboro, Ore., with a focus on improving chip performance, power efficiency and manufacturing timelines.

“Applied and Intel share a decades-long history of deep collaboration focused on pushing the boundaries of materials engineering to advance the semiconductor roadmap,” said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO of Applied Materials, in an October press release. “Bringing our teams together at the EPIC Center will deepen that partnership and accelerate the transistor, interconnect and packaging innovations needed to drive the future of AI computing.” 

Agreement: The Applied Science and Technology Research Organization of America (ASTRO America), Northrop Grumman, Florida State University InSPIRE and the Air Force Research Laboratory have entered a cooperative research and development agreement backed by nearly $9 million to reduce the cost and production time of subsonic munitions. The Design for Affordable and Rapid Throughput (DART) program will evaluate additive solid-state deposition, novel casting, powder bed fusion and other manufacturing methods for producing missile bodies and components, using the Gray Wolf missile system as a test case.

“Industry today is under extreme pressure to produce better products faster while de-risking innovation. ASTRO’s guidance in jump-starting our advanced manufacturing capabilities to fast-track cutting-edge research through production and rigorous testing to deliver real-world solutions is exceptional,” said Drew Allen, executive director of FSU InSPIRE, in an October press release.