In Review

(Photo: Adam Fenster)

LEADING LIGHT: Vice President Joe Biden announced this summer that Rochester will be the headquarters of the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics. Known as AIM Photonics, the institute will bring together universities, companies, and federal agencies in a consortium whose goal is to advance optics-based technology for defense, commercial, consumer, and research applications in much the same way that integrated circuits transformed those fields over the past 40 years. The latest addition to the National Network of Manufacturing Institutes, an initiative launched by President Barack Obama, AIM Photonics is slated to receive more than $600 million in funding from federal, private, and state sources, including $250 million committed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Rochester was selected in a Department of Defense competition based on a proposal put together by an academic and industry consortium that spans 18 states and includes the University, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, RIT, MIT, the University of Arizona, the University of California–Santa Barbara, and Columbia University.