About Us

Where entrepreneurial vision meets next-edge research. We've been solving technical problems like yours for 150 years.

New York has hundreds of optics, photonics and imaging companies with active regional, national and international collaborations. Rochester, NY and the Finger Lakes Region stand out for our sheer number of OPI companies and research institutions and our extraordinary historical legacy.

Think Manhattan Project, only for photonic integrated circuits.

AIM Photonics is an industry driven public-private partnership that focuses the nation’s premiere capabilities and expertise to capture critical global manufacturing leadership in a technology that is both essential to National security and positioned to provide a compelling return-on-investment to the U.S. economy. 

The Institute’s goal is to emulate the dramatic successes experienced by the electronics industry over the past 40 years and transition key lessons, processes, and approaches to the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) industry. 

  • Over 150 OPI Companies, ~17,000 employees
  • Over $3B in annual sales
  • 5% - 7% annual employment growth in OPI SME’s smaller than 500 people
  • Monroe Community College Optical System Technology Program, the only program of its kind in the nation, developing technicians for the optics and electro optics workforce
  • Responsible for educating >60% of the Optics PhD’s in the nation
  • 1 in 14 Monroe County households supported by the industry
  • Home to the nation’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics
  • University of Rochester Institute of Optics
  • Rochester Institute of Technology: The Future Photon Initiative backed with Imaging Sciences and Microelectronics
  • Bi-Annual Navy SBIR (Small Business Innovation & Research) optics conference
  • SPIE OptiFab, the only optical fabrication conference in the U.S.
  • Responsible for generating a vast numbers of the nation’s patents in optics, photonics and imaging technologies. #1 per capita in patents in the nation. 95% of OPI patent holders still live in Rochester
  • The most robust, sophisticated and highly integrated optics, photonics and imaging supply chain in the nation
  • Top suppliers and builders for machine manufacturing, metrology, nanotechnology, semiconductor, biomedical, consumer electronic, military / defense, laser, research, automotive, mapping, geospatial imaging, entertainment and other OPI products
  • Embedded long-standing contracting relationships with DoD primes and second tier suppliers

New York Photonics is a not-for-profit organization founded to promote and enhance the New York State optics, photonics and imaging industry by fostering the cooperation of business, academia and government.

Board of Directors

The New York Photonics Board of Directors represent a diverse group of thought leaders from our OPI community, spanning industry, education and not-for-profit sectors. Collectively, our Board has over 200 years of experience in the industry.   Each board member serves to further our mission, and yours.

Michael Ransford

IDEX Life Sciences

Wade Cook

JML Optical Industries

Tom Brown

University of Rochester Institute of Optics

Neal Slifkin

Harris Beach

Paul Melone

Thorlabs

John Hart

Lumetrics

Tom Battley

RRPC and New York Photonics

Sujatha Ramanujan

Luminate, the Photonics Startup Accelerator

Joseph Spilman

Optimax Systems

Stephen Chabot

Volpi Group

Jay Eastman

CEO, Optel

Alexis Vogt

Monroe Community College, Optical Technology

Christopher Page

Precision Optical Transceivers

Paul Tolley

Stretford End Solutions