Optics

More details disclosed on integrated photonics institute

July 24, 2015

New York will provide an additional $250 million to the IP-IMI and it will be headquartered near Rochester.

New York State will provide an additional $250 million to the Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation (IP-IMI) and it will be headquartered near Rochester, in Greece, NY--this according to an article in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. According to the story, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Vice President Joe Biden will formally announce the plans on Monday (July 27) from the new location in the Canal Ponds Business Park in Greece, Monroe County.

The Canal Ponds complex already contains the Photovoltaic Manufacturing and Technology Development Facility, established by SUNY Polytechnic Institute. The article says that, beyond the intense lobbying by state and local officials, New York is contributing $200 million for equipment and $50 million over 5 years for operations. In addition to the academic partners publicly identified, corporate partners include GE, Lockheed Martin, and Intel.

Michael Liehr, a professor at SUNY Polytechnic Institue in Albany and former IBM executive, will be CEO of the institute, and Robert Clark, senior vice president for research and dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Rochester, will be the chairman of the board.

SOURCE: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle article: Biden to announce photonics center in Greece

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.