Luminate, the largest Optics, Photonics and Imaging (OPI) start-up accelerator program in the nation hosted its first ever competition in Rochester this week, nearly twenty years after New York Photonics began its statewide advocacy mission for the industry.  It was a really good event, and this is only year one. OPI was recognized in 2014...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

Did you know that the stunning lights of aurora borealis are the result of solar wind? Or that every CD and DVD player contains a tiny laser? Or that some people can trick their brains to see “impossible” colors? Fascinating, right? It’s this fascination with light and an unquenchable interest in researching new concepts that...Continue Reading

In celebration of the International Year of Light, Perimeter Institute presents 20 fascinating factoids about photons: http://perimeterinstitute.ca/news/20-illuminating-enlightening-day-brightening-facts-about-light?cm_mid=4290135&cm_crmid=d0a17731-1812-e211-858f-005056800012  Continue Reading

Funding Opportunity Announced Through a Funding Opportunity Announcement  (FOA) made on Nov. 6, the U.S. Department of Defense is calling for concept papers for the establishment of an Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation (IP-IMI). The IP-IMI will be the largest federal investment to date under the Obama administration’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI)...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

Corning will expand production at its Canton plant in a $21 million project that will create 40 permanent jobs with the help of a low-cost power allocation, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to announce today. The plant on McAdoo Road in the town of DeKalb will increase production of high-fused silica glass used in...Continue Reading

Rochester, New York is bursting with energy, photonic energy! The New York (NYSTAR) MEP Center, aka High Tech Rochester, is a key player in the revitalizing this industry, along with various economic and business development entities in the Rochester region. To strengthen and grow this industry the Rochester region has received three grants; the Advanced...Continue Reading

“If China shuts off the flow of glass, the United States will be out of drones in six months.” – CEO of a critical components contractor to the DoD It was anticipated and heavily lobbied for.  Does it look like anyone expected? On Monday, June 2nd, the Department of the Air Force, through Air Force...Continue Reading

2015 is The Year Of Light And Light-based Technologies. What project are you embracing? Here’s a story about a bold idea and a woman that chose a remarkable path for herself and her village. “Only about 34 per cent of Belize’s largely rural southern region have access to the electric grid. The rest burn kerosene...Continue Reading