A coalition led by the\u00a0University of Rochester<\/a> that aims to make the Rochester, New York, and Finger Lakes region a national hub for laser science and development recently hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a site visit as a finalist in the Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program<\/a>.<\/p>\n URochester\u2019s\u00a0STELLAR (Science, Technology and Engineering for Laser and Laser Applications Research) project<\/a>\u00a0is one of 15 nationwide finalists\u2014and the only one in New York State\u2014being considered for the second NSF Engines competition. The competition aims to build and scale new innovation clusters that accelerate the development of critical technologies and grow regional economies nationwide.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no better place for a national resurgence in laser technology than the imaging capital of the world, which has a nearly 175-year history of expertise in precision, innovation, and light,\u201d says Thomas Brown<\/a>, the director of URochester\u2019s Institute of Optics<\/a> and STELLAR principal investigator. \u201cThis region has the pedigree, talent, and brainpower needed to fill national talent shortages, help translate technologies into businesses, bring manufacturing to a scale that can compete with leaders in Europe and China, and fuel core research and development.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of the final rounds of the competition, NSF is conducting in-person interviews and a due-diligence review to evaluate each finalist\u2019s risks, resources, and ability to meet the nation\u2019s evolving needs. The Rochester site visit was the culmination of a planning process that formally began in 2023, when NSF awarded\u00a0URochester\u00a0a $1 million\u00a0Regional Innovation Engines\u00a0Development Award grant<\/a>.<\/p>\n The field for this round of competition has narrowed from nearly 300 letters of intent<\/a>\u00a0to 15 finalists, and the NSF anticipates announcing the 2026 NSF Engines awards later this year.<\/p>\n The in-person meetings with NSF officials were an opportunity for STELLAR\u2019s organizers to showcase how they would progress the region as a national leader in laser technologies, education, company creation, manufacturing, and workforce development. The project\u2019s key partners include URochester\u2019s\u00a0Institute of Optics<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Laboratory for Laser Energetics<\/a> (LLE),\u00a0Monroe Community College<\/a> (MCC),\u00a0Rochester Institute of Technology<\/a> (RIT),\u00a0NextCorps<\/a>\u00a0Luminate<\/a>,\u00a0Greater Rochester Enterprise<\/a> (GRE),\u00a0AmeriCOM<\/a>, and\u00a0New York State<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis region has the pedigree, talent, and brainpower needed to fill national talent shortages, help translate technologies into businesses, bring manufacturing to a scale that can compete with leaders in Europe and China, and fuel core research and development.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In addition to the STELLAR organizers, the visit brought other critical public, academic, and industry partners from across the region, state, and the country to participate and voice their support for this important initiative. Among the dozens of officials who voiced their support for STELLAR during the site visit were Congressman Joe Morelle, Congressman Nick Langworthy, and Kent Rochford, the CEO and Executive Director of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.<\/p>\n With local businesses, educators, nonprofits, and government entities aligning to support the project, STELLAR\u2019s leadership has secured matching support at the state level if awarded NSF funding.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York State is incredibly proud to support this catalytic proposal, including with a $16 million matching commitment,\u201d says Elizabeth Lusskin, the executive vice president for small business and technology development at Empire State Development. \u201cIf awarded, STELLAR would provide the connective tissue to knit together investments the state, local partners, and corporations have already made in both the laser sector and the region and bring them to a scale to serve national interests. It would not only benefit the laser industry but many other tech sectors in New York and around the country that rely on lasers, including biotech, defense, and semiconductors.\u201d<\/p>\n Rochester is home to pioneering educational programs\u2014from high school to the doctoral level\u2014focused on the science of light, which could help build the laser workforce. URochester\u2019s nearly 100-year-old Institute of Optics is the nation\u2019s first optics program; RIT\u2019s Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science became the nation\u2019s first program to offer degrees in the interdisciplinary field of imaging science; and MCC is the nation\u2019s first community college to award associate degrees in optical systems technology.<\/p>\n Alexis Vogt \u201901, \u201907 (PhD), chair of optical systems technology at MCC, leads the education and workforce development component of STELLAR and says the project would be an opportunity to have these educational programs work collaboratively and expand their impact to reach people across the region.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest gaps in the laser industry today is workforce development,\u201d says Vogt. \u201cOur 11-county region is home to 1.2 million people with tremendous untapped potential. Through the STELLAR initiative, we are expanding access to laser education and training\u2014particularly in rural communities\u2014and creating new pathways into the industry for remote learners, military veterans, the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, and individuals whose degrees have left them underemployed. By opening these doors, we can build the skilled workforce needed to power the next generation of laser technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n STELLAR would also intensify research in a region that already boasts URochester\u2019s LLE, home to the largest\u2014and some of the most powerful\u2014lasers in academia, as well as facilities like the RIT Semiconductor Nanofabrication Laboratory.<\/p>\n \u201cSTELLAR would empower our expert researchers to collaboratively focus on the frontiers of laser development,\u201d says Stefan Preble, RIT\u2019s Bausch and Lomb Professor and PhD program director of microsystems engineering. \u201cThere is already brilliant research and development underway locally in ultrafast lasers, microchip-scale lasers, lasers for biotechnology, and quantum networking using lasers. STELLAR would equip us to conduct even more laser research on a grander scale.\u201d<\/p>\n STELLAR\u2019s leadership says that the project would position the US to grow its stake in a $16 trillion global marketplace that depends on lasers for everything from precision manufacturing and quantum to energy and defense. They note that more than 150 optics, photonics, imaging, and laser supply-chain companies already operate in the Greater Rochester region.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a unique density and concentration of talent,\u201d says Leah George VanScott, executive vice president of business development and strategy at GRE. \u201cThe region also has an unusually mature and collaborative translational ecosystem as well as unparalleled foundational assets\u2014everything from tiny integrated photonic lasers to 50-meter beam lines. Rochester and the Finger Lakes provide one of the strongest starting points in the nation to scale. STELLAR is an opportunity to turn our region\u2019s existing foundation into an engine necessary to secure our nation\u2019s technological future.\u201d<\/p>\n Sujatha Ramanujan, managing director and chief investment officer of NextCorps Luminate, works to help entrepreneurs start or expand businesses related to optics, photonics, and imaging. She sees incredible opportunities for domestic companies to grow their share of the laser marketplace.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US only makes about a third of the lasers used in this country, and that number is shrinking,\u201d says Ramanujan. \u201cApplications from defense to medical devices to quantum depend on lasers. We are headed to a serious national problem if we don\u2019t close that gap and start making our own lasers. But between the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the universities here in Rochester, and the AIM Photonics TAP facility, Rochester already has the infrastructure in place to support the laser industry. STELLAR could propel us into the next generation of science-based business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The URochester-led STELLAR project is a finalist in the NSF\u2019s Regional Innovation Engines competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1242,"featured_media":696402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18632,18652,5296,23262,9186,31062],"class_list":["post-696362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-news","tag-hajim-school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences","tag-institute-of-optics","tag-laboratory-for-laser-energetics","tag-office-of-government-and-community-relations","tag-research-funding","tag-thomas-brown"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLeveraging regional brainpower<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Capitalizing on economic opportunities<\/strong><\/h3>\n