Ipswich, England, March 22, 2004 A leading photonics research facility is throwing open its doors to representatives from universities across the country to demonstrate its ability to undertake collaborative research. The Centre for Integrated Photonics (CIP) based on Adastral Park in Ipswich will host two tours of its facility for university representatives, on March 31 and April 2. Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet CIP scientists and discuss the current projects and potential collaborative research that CIP could undertake with universities. Keynote speakers will address the visitors on both days before they tour the facilities. Richard Nicol, director of the Cambridge ¿ MIT Institute (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) on March 31 and Pat McDonald, director of key business technologies at the Department of Trade and Industry on April 2.
The CIP is aiming to be the UK's leading facility for applications of integrated Photonics, Micro and Nanotechnology. The center was created after the East of England Development Agency purchased the Corning Research Centre (CRC) in 2003. This was after Corning Incorporated announced that it would close the CRC due to a world-wide restructuring program.
"When we established CIP it was always our aim to ensure that the abilities of our team of scientists and the first class research facilities we have here are available to both the academic and private sectors," said CIP chief executive Stephen Holton. "We will be looking forward to demonstrating the achievements of the centre and what we can offer in terms of exciting collaborative research projects to the University academic researchers."
According to Holton, the center's track record in photonics research speaks for itself. Under its previous incarnations as an R&D facility for BT and later Corning, the center has been responsible for more than 700 world-wide patents over 25 years of sustained work.
Earlier this year a major research contract was granted by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to University College London in which CIP will research, develop and deliver a range of novel photonics devices to a consortium of four UK Universities (UCL, Imperial College London, University of Cambridge and University of Essex).