From doubt to disruption: Dr Ian Mann on building what others said was impossible

Deep tech companies must prepare for scale from day one and embrace long development timelines, according to the chief technology officer of ASX-listed semiconductor manufacturer BluGlass. 

Dr Ian Mann, who leads technology and operations at the Sydney-based company, said founders venturing into complex technology development should prepare for scepticism but stick to their vision.

“Don't listen to the naysayers,” Mann said during a recent podcast interview. “You're going to have a lot of people that are going to doubt some of the things that you're doing because, at the end of the day, you're bringing some new innovation.”

BluGlass has spent more than a decade developing its proprietary Remote Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition (RPCVD) technology for manufacturing gallium nitride semiconductors. The company now produces laser diodes for defence, biomedical and quantum computing applications.

Mann, who has a background in materials science, was drawn to BluGlass by its bold ambition to innovate in the gallium nitride space. “There wasn't a lot of deep tech going on, and certainly in the semiconductor space in Australia,” he said. “I was really attracted to their bold ambition to be innovative in a relatively new material system.”

The company's RPCVD process uses plasma to break molecular bonds during thin film deposition, contrasting with traditional Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition that relies on high temperatures. BluGlass combines both technologies to achieve what Mann described as “the best of both worlds” in performance and cost advantages.

However, the path to commercialisation proved more complex than initially anticipated. “We kind of knew that the process was going to take time,” Mann said. “What we have had to do is be dynamic and change to some of the market requirements.”

A major pivot came when LED manufacturing shifted rapidly to China, forcing BluGlass to adapt its business model. The company also faced challenges with semiconductor fabrication contract manufacturers in a new material class during its early laser product development, ultimately deciding to fast-track the acquisition of its supply-chain with the purchase of its own fabrication facility to become one of Australia’s only vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturers.

“We went from focused on just making the laser wafers into now a completely vertically integrated company where we design, manufacture and sell the lasers,” Mann explained. “That was a big step for us.”

The scaling challenge represented one of the biggest technical hurdles. Working with industrial partners proved crucial to demonstrating that the university-spun-out technology could compete with incumbent processes at commercial volumes.

For a public company, managing investor expectations around lengthy development timelines requires constant communication. “The tech does progress in a continuous manner, even though sometimes it's non-linear,” Mann said.

Mann emphasised the importance of building manufacturing capability early, even if costlier initially. “While that may be a little bit more costly in the early days, I really think that will pay off in the future when you get to scale and get to production,” he said.

For other deep tech founders, Mann stressed the importance of assembling multidisciplinary teams with overlapping skills. “You actually need a lot of crossover in your skills,” he said. “Hiring two or three people that have similar skill sets and expertise, the amount of return you get on that by each person challenging each other and the more innovation you get out of that.”

BluGlass now holds a suite of internationally granted patents and has achieved commercial revenue through customer contracts in defence and emerging quantum applications. The company recently set a world record for laser performance and continues expanding its product pipeline.

“We're right in the thick of commercialisation right now,” Mann said. “Whether it's UV lasers for sterilisation or whether it's lasers for quantum computers, that really is the next phase.”

In this episode of @AuManufacturing Conversations, Simran Gill speaks to Mann about the company's progress.

Editor's note: James Walker, Chair of BluGlass, appeared at Spotlight on Scaling Up, hosted by @AuManufacturing at UTS Building 8, 14-28 Ultimo Road, Sydney on Wednesday 25 June. We will begin sharing audio from the event's panels and speeches on Thursday.