People who want to seem smarter than the average researcher or business leader pretend that they can cultivate radical innovation.  Is there evidence that they can?  “Innovation,” “Scaling,” “Disruption” are all terms that are easy to apply in hindsight and toss around at cocktail parties but not so easy to engender. Some people think that “breaking...Continue Reading

On Thursday, June 4th, OSA, SPIE and New York Photonics hosted a webinar with the Department of Commerce about proposed changes to the U.S. Munitions List.  These changes have the potential to greatly hamper the export of optics and photonics products from the U.S. 26 New York Photonics members participated in the Webinar.  The presentation is...Continue Reading

Thursday, September 4, 2014 3:30PM – 6:30PM Rochester Museum & Science Center Registration begins at 3:00PM The registration landing page is here   Opening remarks by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter Representative New York’s 25th District  Speakers and Panelists Kevin Füchsel, Head of Department Strategy – Marketing – Coordination, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering Steve Anderson,...Continue Reading

The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired is calling on local firms interested in developing the next generation of assistive technologies for the blind and low vision community. Researchers and representatives from engineering services firms and manufacturers interested in developing and commercializing these technologies are invited to ABVI’s Low Vision Technology Industry Day on June 12....Continue Reading

“Matteson points out that there were four significant changes among four different chiefs between 1988 and 2012: Chandler bought Sterling Drug in 1988 to leverage the chemical wing by moving into pharma; Fisher said he could make digital cameras a success; Dan Carp touted a global model that pushed digital cameras but reemphasized the legacy...Continue Reading

All of the banners are attention-grabbing and colorful. Only one group has over 70 companies at Photonics West, more than any of the others.  Something else distinguishes that group. Can you guess what it is? New York is a State, not a country! And yet we compete with countries to develop the optics, photonics, imaging...Continue Reading

A workshop about the formation of a National Institute for innovation in Photonics and Optics Manufacturing Technology will be held at the University of Rochester on December 17th.  A preliminary agenda is attached. The proposed Institute will be part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), a $1Billion program announced by the Obama Administration...Continue Reading

The Rochester Regional Optics, Photonics and Imaging Accelerator The Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster is one of the awardees in The Rochester Regional Optics, Photonics and Imaging Accelerator consortium. The three-year $1.7M grant from a group of five federal agencies will be used to accelerate the growth of small and medium-sized optics, photonics, and imaging companies...Continue Reading

Expert Panel Discusses What Will Drive Optics and Photonics Growth The RRPC brought together over 200 industry leaders to hear the findings from the recently released report, Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation. (Read more from the Innovation Trail). Get more about the report from SPIE here. While optics-related technologies make up 25%...Continue Reading

Washington, D.C. − U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced today that the United States has requested consultations with the People’s Republic of China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning China’s unfair export restraints on rare earths, as well as tungsten and molybdenum. These materials are key inputs in a multitude of U.S made-products and...Continue Reading