Women in our culture have traditionally been recognized as mothers, educators, caregivers, and artists. We’ve seen strides toward greater recognition of women for their other contributions during the past 100 years since women’s suffrage  (the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920). In addition, society is beginning to understand the impact...Continue Reading

Not all the most interesting telescopes need to live in space. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will sit on top of a mountain in Chile some 8,800 feet up and snap 3.2-gigapixel (3,200-megapixel) images of the sky every 20 seconds. All told, it will be able to snap digital images of the entire southern...Continue Reading

Award planned for the University of Arizona’s Homecoming Festivities in October The University of Arizona Alumni Association has announced that Dr. Jannick P. Rolland-Thompson as the 2019 Alumnus of the Year for the Wyant College of Optical Sciences. Currently a professor of optics and biomedical engineering and professor in the Center for Visual Science at...Continue Reading

Three outstanding women, two in the optics industry, were honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame as Keepers of the Flame on Monday, December 17. The designees were Dr. Susan Houde-Walter, President and CEO of LaserMaxDefense (LMD), Dr. Alexis Vogt, Associate Professor of Optics at Monroe Community College, and Carol Ritter Wright, former Rochester...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

The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany was No.1 in the country for research expenditures funded by business in fiscal year 2013. That’s according to a report out last week from the National Science Foundation. The nanocollege received $201.6 million in research and development expenditures from business, a piece of the college’s $374.2...Continue Reading

Len DiSalvo’s contributions to JML Optical Industries as the company’s CFO,  and to the Rochester community as a whole,  have placed him as a finalist for the Financial Executive of the Year award, sponsored by the Rochester Business Journal and Financial Executives International. In addition to finance and accounting, DiSalvo is responsible for human resources and...Continue Reading

Letter: Slaughter has led on photonics In reference to the Feb. 2 essay by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (“To fight poverty locally, invest in well-paying jobs”), I applaud the congresswoman’s efforts on behalf of optics and photonics. This is an industry that is highly technical and often not understood by many outside of Rochester, but the...Continue Reading

Five years ago the Monroe Community College (MCC) Optical Systems Technology Program graduated two people and had a total of six enrollments. Today, the program has new labs, new laboratory equipment, dual-credit relationships with three area high schools and an annual optical systems immersion program for high schoolers with the Optics Summer Sizzler.  There are...Continue Reading