It’s tough to get higher tech than the OptiPro Pro 80 GTS. About the size of a phone booth, with a separate arm holding a control panel covered in buttons, dials and a touchscreen, the machine turns discs of glass into specialized, very precise, very expensive optics. One of those computer-controlled grinders — along with...Continue Reading

Martin Dvorin is Professor emeritus of the Optical Systems Technology Program at a Community College.  He began teaching optics at Monroe Community College, on Alexander Street, in Rochester, NY in 1966. We reprint here a recollection written for us by Marty in 2009, and edited just two months ago. Happy Birthday Marty! In the early 1960’s, the...Continue Reading

Someday your smartphone might be able to help you in a new way when you’re traveling: by telling you whether the water is safe to drink. Although a water app isn’t close yet, researchers at Corning and elsewhere recently discovered that they could use Gorilla Glass, the toughened glass made by Corning that’s commonly used...Continue Reading

The success of the Monroe Community College optics program is a stellar example of industry support and involvement, including cash and material donations and direct student support. While some companies just wring their hands and complain that colleges aren’t producing the workforce they need, the Rochester-area employers offer a shining example of how industry and...Continue Reading

$100 Million. This is the largest single federal investment in apprenticeship ever in the U.S. Its aim is to transform our workforce for the 21st century. Through this grant, the Department of Labor will expand apprenticeships from the traditional skilled trades to new high-tech, high-demand industries like healthcare, IT, advanced manufacturing, and others. These grants will help...Continue Reading

The Finger Lakes Regional Center for Advanced Optics Manufacturing was awarded $675,000 today in the New York State Regional Economic Development Competition. Kudos to the FLREDC Optics & Photonics Committee and its chairmen, Jim Sydor of Sydor Optics and Jay Eastman of Optel for their leadership. The money will be used to purchase two pieces...Continue Reading

Conesus Lake: December 6, 2014 at age 67 after a long battle with COPD and Emphysema. Predeceased by parents Rudy and Irene Novak. Survived by wife Linda (Frear); son Brett (Heather Graning Novak); granddaughter Nadia Clare Novak. Niece & nephew in law Heather & Chad Petersen. Aunts Betty Romanowski and Dolores Kohler. Frear Family, Szczech,...Continue Reading

It’s been a very exciting time in this industry,” Bob Bicksler, president and CEO of JML Optical, said. “Sophisticated electronics, matched up with software, has resulted in a tremendous transformation.” JML has undergone a transformation of its own since Bicksler and COO Gregg Sadwick acquired the company from founder Joe Lobozzo three years ago. The...Continue Reading

Toptica has positioned itself at the center of the optics universe, with a Victor office that handles sales, support, service and light manufacturing for its North American clients and a president who holds physics and business degrees from both the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology. “We have the best right here in...Continue Reading

Ubiquitous!   [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTgAIedMwwk&w=560&h=315]   We are living in it!   [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbX9KOpDJME&w=560&h=315] http://theglassage.com/  Continue Reading