In August, Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter and Gov. Andrew Cuomo designated Rochester as headquarters for a $650 million integrated photonics startup, AIM Photonics. The intent of the institute is to design and build computer chips that use light (photons), rather than electronics (electrons), wherever possible. The technology has broad transformational potential across all industries and positions our state and city as potential big winners in this high-stakes effort, with new companies and new engineering and manufacturing jobs.
The Finger Lakes region also won one of New York’s coveted Upstate Revitalization Initiative awards of $500 million over five years, with optics and photonics a key economic pillar. This separate award holds extraordinary potential for our region, and for New York.
The members of New York Photonics approach this responsibility seriously. A transformational project of the sort that will leverage our technical, educational and intellectual resources takes time to cultivate.