POET Technologies reorganises engineering team
The company has established a Global Engineering Organization based in Singapore, whose operations it says will benefit from geographical proximity to module makers, while closing its Allentown, PA operation is expected to save around $2 million annually
POET Technologies has announced that it is reorganising its engineering team to streamline design, component engineering and new product introduction (NPI) activities globally, in response to active customer demand for 800G and higher products directed at the AI systems and hyperscale datacentre markets.
While the major AI network and systems companies are located in North America and China, almost all module makers, including POET’s current customers for optical engines, are located in China, Taiwan, and other Asia Pacific countries. To better serve these and other customers, the company has established a Global Engineering Organization based in Singapore, which will be led by Dr. Mo Jinyu, senior vice president, with the NPI and component engineering teams reporting to her.
POET describes NPI as being responsible for taking optical engine and module products from prototype design to initial manufacturing, coordinating with the product design and production teams along the way – all functions that benefit from tight integration and geographic proximity. Critical product design and architecture, key customer relationships, global marketing & sales, and intellectual property management all continue to remain centred in Silicon Valley, California, while the company’s finance, investor relations, and other administrative functions are managed from its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario.
As a result of this reorganisation, the functions of engineering design and manufacturing interface, previously managed by POET’s Allentown, PA organisation, will be transferred to POET’s Shenzhen operation, with other functions being transferred to Singapore. Compared to its annualised spend at the beginning of the year, the company says the annual savings realised from the closing of Allentown on or before 31 March 2025, will be between US $1.8 million and $2 million annually, with one-time costs estimated at approximately $250,000.
“Now that the company has a strong balance sheet, we can now confidently plan for our future, by streamlining the organisation with a laser focus on securing design wins, delivering products and taking volume production orders from customers,” said Dr. Suresh Venkatesan, chairman & CEO of POET. “We fully expect that the partnerships and customers that we have announced over the past few months will mature into module designs that will qualify with end users and convert to optical engine revenue later this year and into 2025, with ultra-high growth in the years to follow.”
