All Three Units of 392 megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Now Delivering Solar Power to California’s Electric Grid At full capacity, the facility’s trio of 450-foot high towers produces a gross total of 392 megawatts (MW) of solar power, enough electricity to provide 140,000 California homes with clean energy and avoid 400,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, equal to removing 72,000 vehicles off the road. Take 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors, each...Continue Reading
SPIE’s Photonics West, arguably the largest photonics conference in the world at 21,000 attendees this year, had representation among its exhibitors of roughly 18% of the world’s optic and photonics market. That market, estimated at roughly $480 Billion by SPIE, is the foundation for technological advances in manufacturing, metrology, nanotechnology, semiconductors, biomedical instruments, consumer electronics, military / defense, lasers, research, automotive, mapping, geospatial imaging, entertainment, unmanned systems and every other...Continue Reading
Exelis (NYSE: XLS) has delivered the primary payload for the future Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) weather satellite. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), which provides high-resolution imagery of environmental conditions, has arrived in Denver where it will be integrated into its GOES-R satellite for a scheduled 2016. The completed ABI is the first of four satellite payloads Exelis is building for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The second...Continue Reading
Top executives, representing different aspects of the marketplace, shared their insight and hard-fought lessons regarding trends and opportunities in optics and photonics. Optimax CEO, Rick Plympton shared 2013 experiences, including strong orders from laser systems, particularly HPL’s, and significant medical and semiconductor business. Plympton shared optimism about what he sees as necessary pruning (sequestration) of government business, which he anticipates will result in new growth in other government program opportunities....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 50 enrollments. Corning and Sydor Optics donated $750 thousand to the program and there is...Continue Reading
Sydor Instruments recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Kentech Instruments Ltd to serve as its sales and applications partner in North America. The UK-based Kentech specializes in the manufacture of high voltage, fast pulse generator systems and gated detectors that when integrated with Sydor Instruments’ cameras, can provide custom diagnostics and ultrafast imaging systems. The partnership will enhance Sydor’s ability to deliver integrated imaging systems to...Continue Reading
…agrees to purchase of 88 acres from the city of Buffalo New York State has agreed on terms to buy the 88 acres of city-owned land in South Buffalo that will house a new high-tech and clean-energy complex at RiverBend. The deal marks what officials call “swift progress” in advancing a monumental project that seeks to transform a former steelmaking site from a brownfield into a green-power economic driver. It...Continue Reading
Once again fielding an impressive roster of Optics, Photonics and Imaging (OPI) companies at the largest and most influential international laser and photonics conference of the year, New York Photonics will be representing New York State at Photonics West 2014. No state (or nation) at the annual conference matches that number of exhibitors. New York Photonics companies comprise a fully-integrated supply chain for global firms and uniquely qualified systems integrators. ...Continue Reading
Tornado Spectral Systems, Ithaca, NY has been nominated for the SPIE Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation in the category of Detectors, Sensing, Imaging and Cameras for their OCTANE-860 “spectrometer on a chip” nanophotonics spectrometer. The OCTANE-860 turn-key fully integrated package never requires alignment and can be customized for high-resolution or broad-bandwidth preferences. Standard fabrication processes used in prototyping are easily transferable to commercial foundries. Tornado’s spectrometer-on-chip solutions are robust, miniaturized...Continue Reading
This can only be accomplished by doubling down on the essential DNA of the region: engineering, manufacturing, logistics, a reasonable cost of living and bountiful natural resources. This approach builds off what some local urbanists, notably Jim Russell, have dubbed “rust belt chic.” Read the full Forbes article here.Continue Reading
