Mi-Light (Ann Arbor, MI), the Michigan photonics industry cluster, announced the funding and award of $5,000 in scholarships to four in-state academic institutions. Each college or university was allocated $1,250 in funds to be awarded to students enrolled in a photonics programs. Funds were provided by the 21st Century Jobs Fund, a program designed to accelerate the growth and diversification of Michigan’s economy.
The recipients are: Baker College (Flint, MI), which started a new program in photonics and laser technology in the fall of 2013; the school of engineering at Grand Valley State University (Grand Rapids, MI), which offers courses on fiber optics and photovoltaic systems for undergraduate and graduate students, respectively: the college of electrical and computer engineering within Michigan Tech (Houghton, MI), which offers an undergraduate concentration in the area of photonics; and Northwestern Michigan College (Traverse City, MI), which offers a photonics specialization as part of their engineering technology degree.
Mi-Light recently announced that it has grown to over 30 members with the addition of Clark-MXR, Micro-LAM, Ophir-Spiricon, OSA, Thorlabs-UFO, and Michigan Technological University. The cluster was formed in late 2012 with the support of 11 founding sponsors and funding from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The award of $89,000 enabled Mi-Light to start up activities supporting and promoting the growth of the State’s photonics industry. Since that time, Mi-Light has held three member meetings and launched a number of committees to work on goals to grow the organization and its capabilities.
For more information, contact Michelle Stock, chair of Mi-Light, at [email protected] or visit www.mi-light.org.