244241 external_news 1381410814 1475893603 <![CDATA[Optics Industry Panel Present Need for National Photonics Initiative]]> This month, more than 200 business and technology leaders met to learn about the driving forces behind the optics industry’s critical role in the U.S. economy.

At the annual meeting for the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster (RRPC), optics industry experts and government officials advocated for a National Photonics Initiative (NPI), a collaboration among industry, academia and government to drive investment in fields critical to U.S. competitiveness and national security.


Panelist and professor Jennifer Clark, of Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy, stated that the regions primed to compete and thrive offer deep, specialized labor markets; horizontally and vertically networked institutional intermediaries focused on innovation; and established, firm networks and strategies for manufacturing.

Advances in optics, many of which have been created in Rochester, are instrumental in enabling key technologies contributing to U.S. economic upturn: from consumer electronics like the iPad to medical device innovations like the SmartPill and mobile diagnostics, to military advances like drones.

]]> <![CDATA[]]> 2013-09-18 1281 1289