Stepping in front of the camera this week on Techopia Live was a member of Ottawa’s own imaging experts – Lumenera. Dany Longval, the firm’s vice-president of worldwide sales, joined the show to discuss how the local digital camera company is snapping up imaging opportunities.
Lumenera isn’t responsible for the camera in your iPhone. Instead, the Ottawa-based firm develops and manufacturers specialized cameras for scientific and industrial use – everything from microscopes to astrophotography.
“There’s cameras everywhere. For us, that’s a very good market to be in,” Longval told Techopia Live.
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Lumenera’s production is entirely in-house, which Longval says gives the company control over its product and the ability to respond more quickly to the needs of customers.
If you’re surprised the photonics and imaging firm has chosen Ottawa for its home base, don’t be. Longval said Ottawa is a “hotbed of imaging technologies,” adding that he sees local companies at events all over the world. Some of these firms – working in software, optics and photonics – are Lumenera’s customers and partners.
“For us to be in Ottawa, we can harness that knowledge,” he said.
That expertise extends to reputation. Longval explained that being a Canadian firm opens doors for the company to do business in China and around the world as customers are very receptive to the maple leaf.
That doesn’t stop some people from being surprised at Lumenera’s far-reaching sales.
“People ask me all the time, ‘You sell electronics in China? Isn’t is supposed to be the other way around?’”
Longval said the imaging company is seeing the most growth today in life sciences, where demand is driven by emerging needs in health care.
“People need better health care, better ways to deliver on their promises. Imaging makes that happen.”
That’s where the industry is today, but in the future, Longval says imaging won’t be about solely capturing the photo – it’s about understanding what’s in the image. Digital cameras that can analyze data from an image – without a human eye to interpret – are the kinds of technology Lumenera is shooting for in the future.
To hear more about the local firm’s made-in-Ottawa tech, watch the video above.
