Innovations in optics, photonics and imaging are the basis of many broader technologies, which makes this expanding industry a key component of New York State’s 21st-century business plan. R&D and skilled talent, the lifeblood of this industry, are abundant in New York State, thanks to the state’s continual investment in both over the past two...Continue Reading

University of Rochester Researchers Combine Freeform Optics and a Metasurface to Avoid ‘Bug Eyes’ (University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw) “Image” is everything in the $20 billion market for AR/VR glasses. Consumers are looking for glasses that are compact and easy to wear, delivering high-quality imagery with socially acceptable optics that don’t look like...Continue Reading

February 2-7, 2019, the global optics and photonics community descended on San Francisco for SPIE’s annual conference: Photonics West. With a whopping 58 companies in attendance, New York Photonics had its largest showing to date, the largest of any cluster at the conference. “New York companies have been presenting and exhibiting at Photonics West for...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

By Alexis Vogt, PhD, Monroe Community College We need not look any further than our wrists and pockets for evidence of the impact biophotonic devices have on our lives. Our watches and phones can monitor our health and even remind us when it’s time to exercise. All around us, biophotonics is revolutionizing our world. I...Continue Reading

Optimax Systems Inc., Rochester, NY, is expanding again. The company will construct a $21.7 million, 60,000 square-foot addition at its existing facility on Dean Parkway. The expanded operations will allow Optimax Systems to raise the bar when it comes to supplying optics for its customers and will help the company solidify its brand and credibility...Continue Reading

What is really astounding (to anyone that has ever used Photoshop) is the viral nature of the argument about the blue dress.  Is it blue, or is it white?  The real answer of course is, “Who cares?”  But since the subject has caught the attention of millions, the scientists have to step in.  After all,...Continue Reading

The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies officially launched today with a two-day opening ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, with more than 1,000 attendees including international diplomats, Nobel laureates, CEOs, and science and industry leaders from across the globe. The opening events highlight the themes of IYL 2015 programs designed to promote improved public and political...Continue Reading

Telescope lenses someday might come in aerosol cans. Scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory are exploring a new type of space telescope with an aperture made of swarms of particles released from a canister and controlled by a laser. These floating lenses would be larger, cheaper and lighter than...Continue Reading

JML Optical Industries has expanded its offerings to customers with the acquisition of a leading manufacturer of cylindrical optics. The Rochester-based optics developer and manufacturer announced today that it has acquired Harold Johnson Optical Laboratories Inc. (HJOL), located in Gardena, Calif. HJOL manufacturers custom optics in prototype and production volume quantities for customers in the defense, industrial, medical and...Continue Reading