UR photonics initiative gets $500,000 grant
The University of Rochester’s Center for Emerging & Innovative Sciences has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant to fund the development of the New York Photonics Manufacturing Initiative.
The initiative is expected to spur the growth of optics and photonics manufacturing jobs in the area. In 2012, U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, who has worked to obtain funding for the project, convened business, academic, and political leaders to create the Rochester Regional Optics, Photonics and Imaging Accelerator Program.
The goals of the initiative over the next 18 months are to identify major manufacturing challenges that inhibit the growth of the photonics industry, develop a public-private consortium to advance photonics and optics manufacturing technology, develop a plan for creating a new generation of photonics products in New York.
Slaughter is working to establish a national Institute for Manufacturing Innovation in the Rochester area that would focus on the optics, photonics, imaging and display industries.
BLOUDON@DemocratandChronicle.com