Automation in agricultural production!

Headwall Photonics has partnered with Ocean Spray, the leading processor and provider of cranberry products, to test innovative technologies targeted at providing Ocean Spray with the technology necessary to improve product quality and agricultural yield.  With this spectral imaging inspection platform, Headwall has introduced a new class of machine vision inspection capabilities that offer real-time assessment of product quality for many different types of agricultural processing applications. With many years as an instrument supplier to US organisations such as NASA, the Treasury Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency, Headwall has customized multispectral and hyperspectral technology for high performance, real-time commercial and industrial applications. "Ocean Spray has a long history of innovation within the agricultural industry. We are pleased to work with Ocean Spray to develop machine vision sensors that offer unique inspection capability as well as the opportunity to introduce precision agriculture techniques for improved agricultural yield and product quality," said David Bannon, CEO of Headwall, "Headwall is very proud of our strong partnership with Ocean Spray and the high level of technical collaboration generated throughout this relationship."

New Director of Global Sales at Headwell

Tom Breen has joined Headwall Photonics as Director of Global Sales.  He brings with him significant experience across many of the end-user markets served by Headwall. He will be responsible for managing Headwall's growing worldwide sales activities and strategic opportunities for hyperspectral and Raman imagers as well as the Company's OEM integrated spectral instrumentation.

Tom Breen

Prior to joining Headwall, Tom held executive leadership positions at UTC Aerospace Systems where he was responsible for sales and business development of airborne and hand-held products. He also served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for General Dynamic's Axsys Technology Division in Nashua, New Hampshire. Other senior management positions at L-3 Communications, BAE Systems, and Lockheed Martin provided Tom with the background that will allow Headwall to grow its business in the hyperspectral imaging market.

"We are thrilled that Tom has joined our team," said Headwall CEO David Bannon. "His background complements our commercial growth plans seamlessly and he will be a terrific asset in tackling a market that is experiencing very robust growth. Tom has had significant success in building high performance sales teams coupled with exceptional customer relationships."

"I am very excited to be joining Headwall at a period of tremendous momentum for the Company and the industry," said Tom. "As a leading supplier of spectral instrumentation, Headwall is uniquely poised to expand and deliver hyperspectral sensors and OEM instruments for remote sensing and in-line applications."

Headwall's award-winning Hyperspec and Raman imagers are used in commercial and military airborne applications, in advanced machine-vision systems, for document and artifact care, for plant genomics, in medicine and biotechnology, and for remote sensing. A unique differentiator for the Company is Headwall's patented all-reflective, aberration-corrected optical technology that is fundamental to every system it produces.

Tom is a published author, with numerous works produced for IEEE, SPIE, and AAAE. Tom's educational background includes MBA and BSEE degrees from Northeastern University in Boston.