The 2006 STTR Solicitation that opened on February 1st has a final deadline of April 14th at 6:00AM. Some example solicitations:

Keep in mind for the future: there is help available for these grant applications. Contact us if you are interested!

EMF attended PITTCON March 12-17 to evaluate it for future exhibition potential. Here’s a report from Megan Shay, CEO of EMF:

The show is focused on physical, chemical and biological analysis. Overlap with Photonics West is in the 15-20% range.

We spoke with three or four of our industry fabricators or coaters. They equate the show with the west coast medical device show that follows Photonics West and see it as a full level of floor activity lower than Photonics West itself. Diane Mindrum of Mindrum Precision says she does 18 shows a year and PITTCON would not make her top ten if she had to cut back. She does it because she reaches a different group of companies than the SPIE circuit provides. It also occurs on the east coast at a time of the year that no other show is happening.

Other Exhibitors say:

IPCA, the International Photonics Commmericalization Alliance, brought Elcan to the Infotonics Commerialization Center on Wednesday, March 29th for a session meant to stimulate new commercialization opportunities among both bio and photonic researchers.

Some RRPC members see Elcan, now a subsidiary of Raytheon, as competitors. Others who attended the afternoon meeting gave mixed reviews, apparently depending upon what their objectives were in attending.

Said one member who attended, "I thought it was very useful and gave me a much better perspective of what is going in Canada. In addition, it was also useful from a technology roadmap point of view as to where the photonics industry is heading. Can't say there were any direct contacts from that but good overall introduction to the industries and various government groups in both countries."

April's networking event is being held at Rochester Precision Optics on Wednesday, April 12th. We are nearly at capacity as the Newsletter is being prepared, so contact Rick Rivers now if you want to attend.

23 New York State Companies will exhibit together in the New York State aisle at SPIE's Defense & Security Symposium in Orlando, April 19-21.

The conference has doubled in size two years' running and exhibitors will be waiting to see if the one month change in timing will increase attendance. Last year's conference was held the last week in March, this year it will be held during Spring Break.

Proceedings will include:

Annually, the Rochester Engineering Society awards its "Engineer-of-the-Year" honor to one of several candidates nominated from the community. The nominees come from all engineering disciplines, civil, mechanical, chemical, polymer, electrical, etc., and in a technology community like Rochester with so many engineering disciplines, nomination is really recognition in itself.

We noted last month that Steve Loucks, Deputy Director of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) was one of the nominees. We subsequently heard from several people who have worked under Steve, and that prompted a visit.

Loucks has good reason to be proud of his accomplishments during two different careers. A chemical engineer by training, he was a career Navy man, and worked under Admiral Hyman Richover, deemed by many the "father" of the U.S. Nuclear Submarine Fleet, on two different occassions. Richover was notoriously demanding and difficult to work for. Loucks' career at the Laser Energetics Lab began after his career in the Navy.

Christopher Cotton, President of ASE Optics and Chairman of the RRPC worked at the LLE during Loucks' tenure. "Steve is a tough man to work for," says Cotton, "He demands respect, hard work and thoroughness. This is a big reason why the projects at the Laser Lab have been so successful." Cotton was a research engineer at the LLE and worked there for nine years.

Loucks' Navy service was during the Cold War years and eventually he rose to command a fast attack nuclear submarine, the USS Flying Fish (SSN 673) and served as the Fleet Operations Officer of the U. S. Pacific Fleet. He retired from the Navy as a Captain in October 1990.

"The safeguards and security in running the Laser Energetics Lab have paralells with running a nuclear submarine," says Loucks.

When he learned that a former engineer at the Laser Lab thought that he was an exceptional decision-maker, Loucks remarked simply, "The Navy is operationally oriented. One learns to make decisions."

According to many (one whose feathers still seemed a bit ruffled) Loucks' Navy experience has been evident as the LLE has grown over the years. Today the Lab is renowned and respected by weapons labs on both sides of the Atlantic, and by the American, French, and English high energy physics community. Growth and recognition brought different culture to the lab, and many consider Loucks' leadership as key.

Loucks sees the LLE as having significant advantages over a similar type of operation, one within the National Lab System, for instance. "I guarantee that we are at least twice as efficient as a National Lab in terms of productivity," he says. Sitting across from him you don't doubt it.

One mission at the Lab is education - the LLE supports perhaps 60 PhD graduates at at a given time, and its students go on to become scientists at defense contractors, at National Labs, inventors, entrepreneurs and teachers, all of which help to give America a competitive edge in related fields. One meets people who passed through the LLE at every technical conference pertaining to high energy physics and/or commercial optics and lasers.

Mike Pavia, President of Sydor Instruments, which licensed its Streak Camera technology from the LLE had good things to say about working with Loucks. "Steve has been a strong supporter of Sydor Instruments from the very beginning," Pavia said, "He worked with us throughout the entire technology transfer process to make it a success...we couldn't have pulled it off without his help and guidance.

"He is a strong leader who is both firm and fair when it comes to making important decisions. At Sydor Instruments, we now have eight employees all working on manufacturing and development of the ROSS camera. If Steve hadn't taken an interest in commercializing the ROSS, our engineers and technicians wouldn't have had this great opportunity to work on such an advanced product."

The secret to Economic Development espoused by Loucks? "How does an entrepreneur tap into research universities for financial gain?" Sydor Instruments is a good example of that.