The ‘sister cities’ of Jena and Rochester (USA) have a lot in common: Here, as there, an optics industry has developed since the 19th century together with suppliers. While in Jena the collaboration between Carl Zeiss and Ernst Abbe significantly furthered optics research, soon after in Rochester, local industrialists George Eastman (Eastman Kodak) and Edward...Continue Reading

On the heels of 2015’s International Year of Light, Rochester, New York is achieving greater recognition for its preeminence in optics, photonics and imaging. Rochester’s 2015 designation as headquarters for AIM Photonics will bring with it a new Test, Assembly & Packaging plant to begin construction in 2017, with new jobs, new technologies and new skill set...Continue Reading

Photonics jobs: Preparing today for future openings​ Top leaders at the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) say the projected optical technician jobs won’t be here for at least two or three years. That means anyone looking for a future photonics job has 25 months to learn more about the industry. >>Read more...Continue Reading

The deadline for registration is May 31st. Note: This year there are two new courses focused upon Integrated Photonics. Courses: Fundamentals of Optics I Fundamentals of Optics II Gradient-Index Optics (New in 2016) Opto-Mechanical Analysis Opto-Mechanical Lab Optical Thin Films Optical System Design Modern Optical Engineering Integrated Photonics I (New in 2016) Integrated Photonics II...Continue Reading

Contestants will hone pitching skills to gain backing for new photonics products Semi-finalists have been named in the annual SPIE Startup Challenge, where new entrepreneurs pitch their light-based technology products to a panel of venture capitalists and business development experts. Semi-final and final rounds are held at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco in February,...Continue Reading

October 27th  at 6:30pm Dr. Michael Liehr, CEO of AIM Photonics will be giving a IEEE Rochester Photonics Society talk at RIT.   The title of the talk is “AIM Photonics: What merging photonics with nanoelectronics will do”. Liehr was an invited speaker for the New York Photonics Annual Meeting, but was unable to attend....Continue Reading

It’s photonics. Get it? Following SolarCity’s plan to build a factory in Buffalo, New York, another solar company has been attracted to the area with incentives. Upstate New York is quickly becoming a new hub for solar manufacturing. On Wednesday afternoon solar startup 1366 Technologies, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, announced that 1366 will...Continue Reading

Two local photonics experts used the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre Wednesday night to set the stage for how the field will improve Rochester’s job economy. Jay Eastman and Paul Ballentine looked in their crystal balls and told about 150 entrepreneurs that a $600 million photonics research institute coming to town will boost local higher education, jobs...Continue Reading

  ROCHESTER, NY, September 17th. 2015 – The Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster/New York Photonics (RRPC) today honored three leaders in education and business for their contributions to New York’s Optics and Photonics Industry. RRPC Executive Director Tom Battley joined past years’ award winners to present the awards in front of more than 300 representatives from industry, government...Continue Reading

The world’s first entirely light-based memory chip to store data permanently has been developed by material scientists at Oxford University in collaboration with scientists at Karlsruhe, Munster and Exeter. The device, which makes use of materials used in CDs and DVDs, could help dramatically improve the speed of modern computing. Today’s computers are held back...Continue Reading