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Epson Projectors Help Cirque du Soleil ECHO Bring a Dynamic, Immersive World to Life on Tour

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Compact, High-Performance Projectors Help the Global Touring Production 
Deliver Vibrant Visuals, Faster Setup and Consistent Experiences City to City

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — When Cirque du Soleil ECHO travels from city to city, virtually every element of the production travels with it, including a sophisticated projection system designed to transform the performance environment and respond dynamically to the action onstage. As the Official Projector Partner of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, Epson today announced its high-performance laser projectors are helping ECHO deliver its immersive visual experience while meeting the demanding requirements of a production that tours around the world. A video about the project can be seen here.

Epson projectors help bring dynamic, immersive world to life for Cirque du Soleil ECHO Tour.

ECHO is a show that plunges the audience into a universe of a thousand and one colors, wonders and possibilities on the themes of inventiveness, hope of youth and the importance of empathy. The production combines poetry, performing arts and high-flying acrobatics, exploring the precious balance between humans, animals and the world they share. The intention behind ECHO was to create an experience that audiences had not previously experienced in a Big Top.

Projection that Moves with the Performance
At the heart of ECHO’s visual system is a giant cube that is tracked by 10 projectors positioned around the audience. As the cube moves up and down the stage, the projected imagery moves with it, creating a dynamic visual effect that makes the physical and digital elements of the production feel interconnected. The system combines structured lighting and cameras to track the cube in real time, allowing the projection system to re-project imagery from the various projectors’ points of view. The result is a highly coordinated visual environment in which individual projectors work together to create a unified image.

“ECHO is a very complex show,” said Alexis Rivest, Technical Director, VYV. “The system uses structured lights and cameras so the cube can be tracked in real time; that allows us to re-project from the various projectors’ point of view.”

For a touring production, delivering that level of visual complexity is only part of the challenge. The equipment must also withstand the realities of life on the road. “We tend to say a Big Top show is a little like being on a camping site; it’s raining, snowing, it’s a dust storm. You never know what you’re going to get,” said Stefanus Roos, Assistant Head of Video, Cirque du Soleil ECHO. “All of these elements have an impact on the equipment, and our old projectors were aging.”

Designed for the Demands of a Global Tour
Through the Epson partnership, Cirque du Soleil was able to replace aging projection equipment with newer Epson technology designed to deliver the performance, image quality and operational efficiencies required for a touring environment. The upgrade also presented an opportunity to rethink the projection system around the realities of ECHO’s production environment. With equipment mounted overhead and limited physical space available within the touring infrastructure, size and weight were critical considerations.

“The physical space of the actual projector is a challenge for us; we need to keep a clearance,” said Christian Blais, Project Manager, Lighting and Projections, Cirque du Soleil. “Fortunately, the new projectors are much smaller than what we had previously. Having a smaller projector that is lighter and packs a bigger punch is very important for any environment. And we can fit more into a truck and reduce our trucks on the road.”

Eight Hours to Rebuild a Show
For a production that tours internationally, installation and teardown are measured not in days, but hours. Once ECHO arrives at a new location, the technical team has a limited window to rebuild the projection system and prepare it for performance.

“No one tours around the globe like we do; we’re pretty unique in the way we operate our systems,” said Michaël Fortin, Technical Director, Touring Shows, Cirque du Soleil. “From my perspective, the main challenge for this changeover is our timeframe. You have that window of about eight hours to change the components. The clock starts ticking and there’s no coming back.”

The process begins with the installation of the structures that support the projectors, followed by mounting the projectors and running the necessary cabling throughout the system. “Our first step is to bolt our own structures that we hang the projectors on. Then we get the projectors up in the air and cable the whole system,” said Roos. “Our next step is to calibrate the system, which means to get all the 10 projectors to talk together to get one single seamless visual, instead of 10 individual images.”

“With the new projectors installed, we definitely see a reduction in setup time and there’s less maintenance needed,” said Fortin.

Consistent Color and Image Quality Wherever ECHO Performs
For Cirque du Soleil, technical consistency is essential. ECHO may be performed in dramatically different environments and countries, but audiences should experience the same visual impact regardless of where they see the show. “Consistency and giving an audience member the same experience whether they are in Montreal or Mexico is very important for Cirque du Soleil,” said Roos. “Because of Epson’s global support system, we don’t have to compromise on any of that.”

Epson’s large-venue laser projectors feature 3-chip 3LCD technology with advanced image processing designed to deliver bright, vivid colors and consistent image quality. Built with installation flexibility in mind, the projectors can adapt to a variety of environments and placement requirements, making them well suited for large-scale entertainment applications.

For the ECHO team, the impact of the new projectors is particularly visible in the production’s colorful visual content. “Colors are a lot more vivid, a lot brighter,” said Roos.

One Technology Fleet, Worldwide Support
The ECHO upgrade is also part of a broader strategy for Cirque du Soleil – creating a more unified technology fleet across its productions. A consistent projector platform can simplify training and technical support while giving Cirque du Soleil’s teams a common technology foundation from which to develop new creative concepts.

The collaboration with ECHO underscores the partnership between Epson and Cirque du Soleil. In 2024, Cirque du Soleil named Epson its Official Projector Partner, with the companies working together to explore new ways projection can expand storytelling and create immersive experiences. That partnership took shape with Cirque du Soleil ALIZÉ™, Cirque du Soleil’s first-ever European residency, where Epson projectors help transform Berlin’s Theater am Potsdamer Platz into an immersive visual environment.

“Epson is known for exceptional image quality, but in live entertainment, performance consistency is just as critical,” said Jason Meyer, Director of Product Management, Epson America. “With a production as technically complex and visually immersive as ECHO, every element must perform reliably night after night, wherever the show travels. Ultimately, our goal is to help Cirque du Soleil tell its stories. It’s not about the technology – it’s about the story, and we’re honored to help bring theirs to life.”

For ECHO, the collaboration is grounded in a simple goal, making complex technology work seamlessly so the audience can focus on the story. “Epson was amazing in understanding our reality, taking the time to listen to our constraint and come up with the best solution for our needs,” said Fortin. For audiences looking to experience ECHO’s immersive visual world firsthand, Cirque du Soleil ECHO continues its international tour in Mexico through the end of 2026, before traveling to Miami, Florida and Italy in 2027.

About Epson Large Venue Projection
Epson engineers and manufactures the core components of its large-venue projectors to help ensure uncompromising image quality and reliability with proven 3-chip, 3LCD technology and beyond HD resolution for stunning colors and image details that is only available from an industry leader. Built specifically for large-scale, immersive productions like Cirque du Soleil ECHO, these projectors offer the brightness, versatility and features that event producers require for seamless installation and operation. For additional information about Epson’s large venue projectors, visit www.epson.com/largevenue. For additional information about Epson’s partnership with Cirque du Soleil, visit www.epson.com/cirque-du-soleil.

About Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil is a global leader in live entertainment. For four decades, the company has pushed the boundaries of imagination, bringing its creative vision to a wide range of artistic formats, including touring and resident shows, seasonal productions, theatrical shows and more. Since its founding in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has inspired more than 430 million spectators across 6 continents and 86 countries. The Canadian company now employs over 3,000 people, including over 900 artists representing more than 80 nationalities. For more information, visit https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/.

About Epson
Epson is a technology innovation and engineering company whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company uses technology and engineering ability to implement real-world solutions in precision innovation, industrial and robotics, office and home printing, and visual and lifestyle.

Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than JPY 1.4 trillion. corporate.epson/en/

Epson America, Inc., based in Los Alamitos, Calif., is Epson’s regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), X (x.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/epsonamerica) and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica).

EPSON is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2026 Epson America, Inc.

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SOURCE Epson America, Inc.

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Ashling’s Morgan Conque Named SMB Leader of the Year Finalist at the 2026 U.S. Forces in Business Awards

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November 6, 2026

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The world’s largest celebration of veteran talent lands in Dallas, Texas, on December 10 to spotlight outstanding former service members driving American business forward.

CHICAGO, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Morgan Conque, Vice President of Go-to-Market at Ashling, a leading global provider of AI and Automation consulting and development services, has been named a finalist for SMB Leader of the Year at the 2026 U.S. Forces in Business Awards. Now in its ninth year, the program is the world’s largest celebration of military veterans in the civilian workforce, with this year’s shortlist selected from hundreds of nominations.

A U.S. Army officer commissioned through ROTC, Morgan served with NATO forces in Germany, ran personnel operations in South Korea, and advised an Afghan army hospital, where she helped cut the medical evacuation cycle from 17 hours to 3. She concluded her service as the Medical Operations and Logistics Officer for the First Cavalry Division, supporting more than 18,000 soldiers.

Morgan’s military experience translated into business leadership from the start. Following her service, she led branch operations for a large specialty infusion pharmacy team, then moved into intelligent automation and rapidly expanded her scope from bid manager to leading sales platforms, enablement, content, and strategy. Her education supports that trajectory, including a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Seattle University, a Master of Science in Biosecurity and Disaster Preparedness from Saint Louis University, and an Executive MBA from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.

Today, Morgan leads go-to-market strategy at Ashling, aligning sales, marketing, and partnership teams to drive the fast-paced growth and navigate the ever evolving market landscape. “I look back on my transition into AI and automation as serendipitous,” Conque said. “The discipline I built in the Army, leading teams, making decisions with incomplete information, and staying accountable to the mission, carried directly into this field and suited me well. I remain fascinated by the conversations I’m part of and excited about where the industry is headed.”

More than 200,000 service members leave active duty in the United States each year, yet research by ZipRecruiter and the Call of Duty Endowment found that almost one-third of veterans are underemployed, a rate 15.6% higher than among their non-veteran peers. Morgan’s career is a testament to what that talent can achieve. Established in 2018, the Forces in Business Awards celebrate veteran role models like her, reflecting the breadth of industries and professional disciplines where former service members are making their mark.

Rear Admiral (Ret.) Milton “Jamie” Sands III, President and CEO of Special Operations Warrior Foundation, official charity partner of the U.S. Forces in Business Awards, said: “Congratulations to this year’s finalists, whose achievements demonstrate the value military experience brings to business. Service develops leaders who take responsibility, build strong teams, and deliver under pressure. These finalists are putting those qualities to work in new ways, strengthening their organizations and communities while helping others see what is possible after military service.”

Marshall Sied, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Ashling, said: “Morgan’s experience as a military veteran has clearly laid a strong foundation for the evolution of her career.  At Ashling, she balances our fast-paced industry and constantly evolving capabilities with enthusiasm and clarity.  Morgan has the unique ability of being a creative thinker, inspiring team leader, and strong operational executor all at once. We are honored to have Morgan help lead the charge on many of our most mission-critical initiatives. She is a very deserving finalist.”

Winners will be announced on December 10, 2026, at a black-tie gala in the Lincoln Ballroom at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre, hosted by longtime CBS News anchor and Gold Star son Doug Dunbar.

About Ashling

Ashling is a global AI and automation consulting and development firm specializing in digital process transformation. They align on what value means for enterprises, design, build and manage solutions that work from pilot to production, and architect an operating model designed for rapid deployment and compounding success.

Ashling’s delivery accelerators get clients to production 5x faster and prove ROI sooner, backed by a delivery team of forward-deployed AI pods and award-winning innovation. Ashling is the firm enterprise clients trust, with over 400 clients across industries, an 86 NPS, and an unwavering commitment to the business outcomes they deliver.

About the Forces in Business Awards

The Forces in Business Awards is the world’s largest business celebration of the military community. Taking place in the United States and United Kingdom, the Awards program is the leading platform for uncovering and showcasing the achievements and talents of veterans, presenting them as visible role models for transitioning service members and recognizing aspirational employers for current and former servicemen and women. The prestigious events promote the value that veterans add to the economy after service.

Media Contact

Madison Ramsay, Senior Marketing Manager, Ashling madison.ramsay@ashlingpartners.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ashlings-morgan-conque-named-smb-leader-of-the-year-finalist-at-the-2026-us-forces-in-business-awards-302932150.html

SOURCE Ashling Partners

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Diamond Foundry Announces First-Ever D200mm Single-Crystal Diamond

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November 6, 2026

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Breakthrough culminates 25 years of scientific pursuit and establishes a new scale for single-crystal diamond

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Diamond Foundry Inc. today announced a major milestone in the history of materials technology: the creation of the first-ever D200mm single-crystal diamond, measuring 200 millimeters in diameter.

Diamond Foundry creates the world’s first 200mm single-crystal diamond, bringing diamond to semiconductor wafer scale.

The achievement marks a fundamental step forward in humanity’s ability to manufacture diamond as a technology material at semiconductor-relevant scale.

The announcement accompanies a keynote by Diamond Foundry CEO Martin Roscheisen, delivered by video at CarbonSemi 2026 in Ningbo, China. Watch the keynote: https://youtu.be/ae0XQBDlLMQ.

Diamond has long been recognized as an extraordinary material for technology. It combines the highest thermal conductivity with exceptional mechanical strength, electrical insulation, optical properties, and the potential for extreme electronic performance. Yet its use in advanced technology has been constrained by one basic limitation: size.

Diamond Foundry’s D200mm breakthrough changes that.

Producing single-crystal diamond at D200mm scale required overcoming fundamental challenges in crystal growth, plasma physics, reactor engineering, materials science, process control, and manufacturing. The result is not an assembly of individual diamond pieces and not a polycrystalline diamond wafer. It is a single-crystal diamond at D200mm scale.

“This is one of those milestones that once seemed almost impossible,” said Martin Roscheisen, CEO of Diamond Foundry Inc. “Hundreds of DF engineers, scientists, and technicians contributed to us getting here. It is the accumulated result of countless experiments, failures, inventions, rebuilt machines, and insights over more than a decade.”

Roscheisen particularly recognized Stefan Gsell and Martin Fischer, whose work on scaling single-crystal diamond began 25 years ago.

“Stefan and Martin pursued this goal for 25 years,” Roscheisen said. “There are very few examples in technology of someone sticking to a really hard scientific challenge with that level of perseverance. They kept going when the prevailing view was that single-crystal diamond simply could not be made at this scale. Today, the perseverance shows as the first-ever D200mm single-crystal diamond. And best of all, it makes D300mm predictable as well.”

From Gemstone Dimensions to Semiconductor Dimensions

The semiconductor industry is built around the ability to manufacture extraordinary materials at wafer scale. Silicon’s progression toward larger wafers transformed electronics by allowing increasingly sophisticated devices to be manufactured economically and repeatably.

Diamond has never had an equivalent scaling path.

Natural diamond is constrained by geology. Conventional lab-grown diamond has historically been constrained to relatively small crystal dimensions. Even as the extraordinary properties of diamond became increasingly relevant to high-power electronics, AI computing, optics, quantum systems, and other advanced technologies, crystal size remained a fundamental bottleneck.

The D200mm single-crystal diamond milestone demonstrates a path beyond that limitation.

For Diamond Foundry, the achievement is part of a broader effort to turn single-crystal diamond from a scarce material measured in gemstones into a tech-industrial semiconductor substrate manufactured at scale.

The implications are particularly significant as computing systems encounter increasingly severe thermal constraints. Modern AI processors concentrate enormous amounts of power into microscopic regions of silicon. Diamond’s exceptional thermal conductivity can spread that heat at the material level, creating new possibilities for chip architectures, power densities, reliability, and cooling.

Twenty-Five Years of Perseverance

The D200mm achievement has roots extending well beyond Diamond Foundry itself.

For 25 years, Gsell and Fischer pursued the underlying scientific and engineering challenge of growing high-quality single-crystal diamond of scalable size. Their work ultimately became part of a much larger effort involving hundreds of people across Diamond Foundry.

The milestone reflects advances spanning plasma generation, growth chemistry, reactor architecture, crystal engineering, thermal management, metrology, automation, and manufacturing.

“Technology history is often written around the moment something finally works,” Roscheisen said. “But that moment rests on the people who were willing to spend years — sometimes decades — making it work. This diamond exists because hundreds of people contributed, and because a few people refused to give up on the idea for 25 years.”

A New Scale for Diamond

Diamond Foundry views D200mm not as an endpoint, but as the beginning of a new manufacturing era for diamond.

The company is developing single-crystal diamond for semiconductor and advanced-technology applications where diamond’s combination of thermal, mechanical, electrical, and optical properties can enable performance beyond the limits of conventional materials.

The first D200mm crystal is shown as grown and unpolished — directly from the growth process.

For a material that nature forms only under extraordinary conditions deep inside the Earth, the significance is simple:

Single-crystal diamond has entered the wafer-scale era.

About Diamond Foundry Inc.

Diamond Foundry is the #1 producer of single-crystal diamond in the world. Founded in San Francisco, the company created the world’s first diamond wafer and is scaling volume production of chip substrates with a $2.77B EU Chips Act project in Spain.

Media contact: Jeff Yurek, j@df.com

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SOURCE Diamond Foundry

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Qued Ranks No. 5 on FreightWaves’ 2027 FreightTech 25, Its Third Straight Year on the List

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November 6, 2026

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An independent panel ranked the AI appointment scheduling platform No. 5 of 25 companies selected from the 2027 FreightTech 100. FreightWaves announced the rankings Oct. 26 at the inaugural F3 Awards Dinner in Chattanooga.

BROADLANDS, Va., Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Qued, a leader in developing sophisticated, automated appointment scheduling solutions for supply chain and logistics companies, today announced that it ranked No. 5 on the 2027 FreightTech 25, the FreightWaves list of 25 companies recognized for innovation across freight technology and transportation. FreightWaves revealed the list on Oct. 26 at the inaugural F3 Awards Dinner in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Our customers earned this ranking. They book their appointments through Qued from inside the systems they already run, and we will keep building for the people who move freight every day.

This is the third year in a row Qued has made the FreightTech 25. Qued debuted at No. 6 in 2025 and ranked No. 3 in 2026.

The FreightTech 25 is selected from the FreightTech 100, a broader list of 100 companies FreightWaves recognizes for innovation in freight and supply chain technology. An independent panel ranks those 100 companies to set the top 25, and the accounting firm Henderson, Hutcherson & McCullough oversees the voting. FreightWaves recognized all 100 companies at the F3 Awards Dinner, where Sope Creek presented the 2027 FreightTech Awards.

“Appointment scheduling rarely makes headlines, so a third straight year on the FreightTech 25 means a lot to our team,” said Prasad Gollapalli, CEO and founder of Qued. “Our customers earned this ranking. They book their appointments through Qued from inside the systems they already run, and we will keep building for the people who move freight every day.”

Qued’s platform uses machine learning to find the best appointment slots in real time, weighing ETAs, facility capacity, historical performance, and the specific requirements of each location. Qued connects directly to the transportation management system a broker, 3PL, or carrier already runs, and it books through facility portals, email, and AI voice calls to facilities that only book by phone.

The full 2027 FreightTech 25 is published on FreightWaves.com.

About Qued

Qued is a cloud-based, AI-powered smart workflow automation platform transforming load appointment scheduling for brokers, 3PLs, and carriers. By automating the scheduling process, Qued eliminates manual work, simplifies multi-stop load appointments, and ensures seamless coordination across the supply chain, improving both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.qued.com or contact us at contact.us@qued.com.

Media Contact

Adam Robinson, Qued, 1 2148720780, adam@the-robinson-agency.com, https://www.qued.com/

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/qued-ranks-no-5-on-freightwaves-2027-freighttech-25-its-third-straight-year-on-the-list-302931740.html

SOURCE Qued

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