In This Issue
- Annual Meeting
- Seed Capital and University Research
- Selling to the DoD
- New Product Announcements
- Conferences
- Western NY Golf Tournament
- Institute of Optics Summer School
- Intellectual Property
47th Annual Summer School Program
University of Rochester Announces This Year's Line-up
The Annual two-week series of short courses are a mainstay of the regional
optics community and  attract
attendees from across the country. This year’s offering will be
a mix of a one-week course and two-and-a-half-day courses.
Topics will include:
Geospatial Systems Announces New Airborne Metric Thermal Camera
Product Targets Mapping and Survellance Applications
Geospatial Systems, Inc. (GSI), the makers of the TerraPix suite of
modular airborne mapping and surveillance systems, announced the introduction
of the KCM-IR, a new metric camera designed to enable direct georeferenced
Thermal Infrared airborne mapping and surveillance.
The KCM-IR is a ruggedized, large format (640x480) Thermal Infrared
Kinematic Camera Module that produces detailed images day or night. The
KCM-IR includes a precision lens and optomechanical framework that is
designed to maintain geometric precision under airborne operating conditions.
Like all KCM metric cameras in the product line, including the mid-frame
39 MP Camera recently announced, the KCM-IR is plug-and-play compatible
with the TerraPix DGX line of direct georeferenced sensor controllers.
The TerraPix platform enables multiple camera configurations for wide-angle
oblique or nadir imaging, and supports open standard connectivity and
data dissemination. The addition of the KCM-IR allows users to capture
Thermal-IR images day or night, using the same flight management system,
onboard processing and production workflow.“With the introduction
of the new georeferenced thermal infrared camera, complementing the TerraPix
digital sensor product line, GSI is pursuing its strategy to provide customers
with high quality, efficient airborne remote sensing systems, maximizing
their ROI,” said Maxime Elbaz, CEO, Geospatial Systems, Inc.
Applications of the KCM- IR include tactical nighttime mapping, law
enforcement and border control surveillance, search and rescue, forest
fire mitigation, environmental impact surveys, and preventive maintenance
of electrical power lines and pipelines.
ITT SSD Unveils Precision Optics Website
 In
the summer of 2007 ITT Space Systems Division sponsored a teacher from
the Rochester Career Education Collaborative to help them design the Precision
Optics portion of ITT-SSD's online presence. The results are now available
here, and highlight the broad capabilities of ITT SSD's optical fabrication
capabilities, including lightweight, and solid plano optics; aspheres
and spherical optics in impressive size ranges; mirrors; design, testing
and coating. ITT acquired the former Kodak Government Systems division
in August, 2004 and lost no momentum in the process. Click on the logo
for the link.
CDGM USA In New Distribution Site
CDGM Glass Company USA has opened their new sales and distribution facility
in Rochester, N.Y.
CDGM USA is an exclusive distributor of optical glass products for CDGM
Glass Company, Ltd, the world’s largest supplier of optical glass,
located in Chengdu, China. CDGM USA has been warehousing and shipping
optical glass products to customers in North America since January 2007
and has now relocated to a new 2200 square foot facility. The expansion
into this new location allows CDGM USA to increase their inventories to
facilitate 24 hour delivery to their customers in North America (USA and
Canada) and same day service to their local customers in the greater Rochester
area.
CDGM offers equivalent glass types for nearly all known optical glasses
and can develop new glass types to meet unique customer specifications
upon request. To learn more about CDGM Glass Company USA and its products
please contact:
Norm Jordan
National Sales Manager
CDGM Glass Company, USA.
3495 Winton Place, Building D, Suite 2
Rochester, NY 14623
njordan[at]cdgmglass.com
Call for Papers
Technical Conference: October 19–23, 2008
OSA's Annual Meeting: Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2008, the longest-standing
meeting in optics and photonics, will once again be held in Rochester,
New York this year. Colocated with the meeting is the American Physical
Society's (APS) annual meeting, Laser Science XXIV.
The meeting is also the occasion of OSA's Fall Optics & Photonics
Congress. Submission deadline for papers is May 19th for all three segments
of the Congress:
8th Annual Golf Tourney
Spread the word! The 8th annual WNY Photonics Golf Tournament will be
held on July 17th at Shadow Lake and Shadow Pines Golf Clubs in Penfield
NY.
Last year's event raised $14,500 for a total thusfar of $43K to benefit
the Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong. 
The participation from WNY photonics companies, their suppliers and and
friends, as well as companies from as far away as Opto Sigma in California
made the event another rousing success. Ron and Diane Schulmerich are
looking for volunteer committee members to help organize this year's event.
The organization of the tourney has become more challenging each year
with the increasing participation. They are in of a need of a little help
from their friends!! We also want to get an early start on soliciting
larger corporate sponsors this year.
Contact them at wnyoptics@rochester.rr.com or
585-663-7230 if you are interested in volunteering for the Optics Industry's
largest networking event of the year.
Events and Conferences
Grab for the Golden Horseshoe
The second annual Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge is set for May
14th in Rochester, NY.
The competition will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May
13, at the Hyatt Regency, 125 East Main Street, downtown Rochester, N.Y.
The event is open to the public; the cost to attend is $35.
The Golden Horseshoe Business Challenge is targeted toward entrepreneurs
in four cities in Western New York and Ontario, Canada — Rochester,
Buffalo and Ithaca in Western New York, as well as the city of Waterloo,
Ontario. The first-place winner will receive $100,000 in cash to help
implement the winning business plan. Judges will include a select group
of venture capitalists.
Last year RRPC member (and wildcard entry in the contest) Wakonda
Technologies was the winner of the $100,000 prize. Rumor has it that
subsequent Massachusetts investors in Wakonda are encouraging the firm
to move to the 128 Corridor in Boston. Sure would be great if more of
the innovative ideas spawned and nurtured in Western New York were allowed
to grow and flourish here.
APOMA Workshop in November, 2008
The APOMA board has approved a 2 day workshop to be held in Tucson,
AZ this November 17th & 18th at the new Optical Science building at
the University of Arizona. The workshop will cover a variety of topics
on optical fabrication such as Scratch Dig, diamonds, testing, optical
tolerances, pitch and polishing pads, presentations by optical machine
builders on the latest equipment, and much more.
According to Jim Sydor, current APOMA President, "The goal is to
run the workshop in different parts of the country every other year so
as not conflict with OPTIFAB. Once the agenda is finalized we will post
it on the APOMA website."
Seventh Annual Nanobusiness Alliance
Conference
4 - 6 May, 2008
New York Marriott Marquis
New York, New York
Conference
CLEO / QELS / PhAST 2008
4 - 9 May, 2008
San Jose, California
Conference
Smart Start Venture Forum
13 - 14 May, 2008
Rochester, New York
Conference
Official Launch
Ontario Photonics Industry Network
15 May, 2008 - 2:00PM - 8:30PM
Niagara College, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Event
Photonics North
2 -4 June, 2008
Hilton Montreal Bonaventure
Conference
5 June, 2008
Executive Symposium on Photonics Commercialization
Canadian Photonics Fabircation Centre
Symposium
Circa '08
"Convergence of International Research & Commercialization
in Albany"
10 -21, May 2008
Gideon Putnam Hotel
Saratoga Springs, New York
Conference
MSTI Nanotech 2008
1 - 5 June, 2008
Boston, Hynes Convention Center
1 - 5 June 2008
Conference
MD&M East
2 - 5 June, 2008
Jacob K. Javits Center
New York, New York
Conference
Optatec 2008
17 - 20 June, 2008
Frankfurt, Germany
Conference
OSA Annual Frontiers in Optics
2008
19 - 23 October, 2008
Rochester, NY
Riverside Convention Center
Optifab
11 - 14 May, 2009
Early Bird Contract, due February 15
here.
Rochester, NY
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RRPC Annual Meeting
April 23 Meeting Draws Attendance from Beyond Industry
Over 150 business people attending the RRPC Annual Meeting on April 23rd
were treated to a dynamic panel discussion moderated by Duncan Moore,
the Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor of Optical Engineering at the
University of Rochester.
The wide-ranging discussion touched on topics dear to the audience,
such as the state of the global economy.
The Economic Picture? Some opinions from the blue-ribbon panel:
- Economic sectors surrounding optics remain strong and growing
- Chinese economic bubble may be bursting, especially with their hunger
for fuel. This may mean positive results for US by making on-shore manufacturing
more attractive
- Labor rates in China are climbing -- good news, it's making it less
attractive to outsource; bad news, the huge Chinese labor force in the
US is beginning to have the option to go back home and earn a decent
living
- Look to India for the next mega-company (i.e. Microsoft). Investment
there is skyrocketing and innovation is growing.
Opportunities?
- Home healthcare (with optical components) products with price points
under $100 will become a huge new application pool
- Sensors, lasers and other optics for the automotive industry as cars
turn into mobile computers
- Universities' onerous position on IP has, in some cases, to allow
for the acquiring companies to own the IP and pay the University on
a percentage-of-revenue basis (some academic centers are currently exhibiting
greater flexibility)
- The combination of optical design sophistication + miniaturization
+ affordability = host of new applications
- Nano-manufacturing -- the promise is real and substantial but the
timeline to availability is longer than expected. Investors will be
rewarded but may be disappointed in the short-run.
- Holography breakthroughs - enabling a number of disruptive application
adaptations - are on the verge of being realized
- Biotech continues to be a high-growth market sector rich in Photonics
applications with more developing at a rapid rate
Two RRPC Members received awards:
- John Hart, President & CEO, Lumetrics - Leadership Award - For
demonstrated success working with fellow members and the community to
promote the Rochester Region's Optics, Photonics & Imaging Industry
- James Sydor, President & CEO, Sydor Optics - Entrepreneurship
Award - For demonstrating creativity, innovative spirit and drive in
pursuit of the dream of creating an industry-leading company in the
Optics, Photonics and Imaging Industry.
Event Sponsors included:
- Monroe County and County Executive, Maggie Brooks
- Photonics.com
- Stonehenge Growth Capital
- Nixon Peabody
- EFP Group
- M&T Bank
- Corning
- Excell Partners
- High Technology of Rochester
- Rochester Gas & Electric
The Panel in action: L to R: Turan Erdogan, CTO
Semrock; Dick Kaplan, CEO Pictometry; Stephen Fantone, CEO Optikos; John
Bruning, Executive Scientist, Corning; N. Darius Sankey, Managing Partner,
Zone Ventures; Duncan Moore, University of Rochester.
Elections were held during the month prior to the meeting and officers
were announced at the meeting.
- Christopher Cotton, President & CEO, ASE Optics, Chairman
- John Hart, President & CEO, Lumetrics, President
- John Herbrand Esq., Secretary
- Rick Plympton, CEO, Optimax Systems, Treasurer
Board:
- Richard Demartino, Assistant Professor Rochester Institute of Technology
School of Business
- Andrew Germanow, President
G-S PLASTIC OPTICS
- David Henderson, President & CEO
New Scale Technologies
- Katherine Kamenecka, Technology Manager
Corning Tropel
- Wayne Knox, Director
University of Rochester Institute of Optics
- Thad Schofield, Economic Development Specialist, City of Rochester
Economic Development
- James Sydor, President & CEO
Sydor Optics
- Paul Tolley, VP and General Manager
Syntec Optics
Why Sell to the Department of Defense?
Simply, They Have Money
The Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Department budget that took effect on 1
October, 2008 was valued at $480 billion. The proposed Fiscal 2009 budget
is $515 billion. A significant portion of these funds are used to buy
a wide variety of products and services, from major weapons to dining
hall management – perhaps just the type of product or service your
company is already engaged in. One of the advantages to doing business
with the DoD is that they do their contracting according to public law,
specifically the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the Defense-peculiar
subset of them, the DFAR. These regulations are available on line and
although lengthy, at least lets you know what the rules are up-front.
Another of the advantages to DoD business is they have very flexible
contracting arrangements according to the type of product or service and
the level of risk. A range of contracting options is available from firm-fixed-price
to cost-plus. The DoD can also pay periodic progress payments, depending
on the type of program, so you don’t have to wait until delivery
to get all the money for your effort. This definitely helps your cash
flow.
The DoD awards good performers. Some types of contracts include an “award
fee.” That is intended to motivate excellent contractor performance.
Award fee or incentive fee contracts are structured to focus the government
and contactor’s efforts on meeting or exceeding cost, schedule and
performance requirements. The ability to earn award fees is directly linked
to achieving desired program outcomes. So, if you perform well and meet
or exceed expectations award fees are available to you.
The other method DoD uses to reward performance is by past performance
evaluations. If you have done good work on a previous DoD contract, that
performance record is visible to other DoD personnel who are doing a source
selection to pick a contractor for a new effort. A good reputation can
follow you and help you in the future. But a bad reputation will also
follow you.
A little-appreciated part of Defense Department sales is the access
to foreign markets. If your system or product becomes part of the DoD
inventory and an approved foreign government is interested in acquiring
it, the DoD component or service will assist you in making the sale to
that foreign government. So, DoD business can be the key to other overseas
sales.
You may not also know that a number of agencies exist to help you get
started on DoD business. One of the most helpful is the Small Business
Administration. They can navigate you to the right places to take advantage
of Defense work that is specifically targeted to small business operations.
In short, while the terminology and processes can seem daunting at first,
if you wade in, you’ll find that there are a lot of advantages to
doing business with the Department of Defense. Along with them come the
satisfaction of supporting the men and women in uniform.
John DeMonaco, contributor of this article, is a
Project Manager at RIT CIMS.
The RRPC and the RTMA worked with RIT CIMS on The Roadmap Project, a NYSTAR-funded
initiative analyzing the state of the manufacturing climate to 11 industry
clusters in upstate New York and developing recommendations for strengthening
companies’ competitiveness.
Intellectual Property
Patents and Angels
The connection that something has with something else often defines and
enhances the functions of the things involved. For instance, the most
delicious meal isn't a feast for some people unless it is accompanied
by the best possible wine.
The same thing is true in Intellectual Property. A patent, for example,
may be a rather expensive dozen or so sheets of paper and ink. However,
when served up with a product, a business, and competitors in a market-driven
economy, it becomes a tool that can and has generated billions of dollars
of revenue. The "whole" truly becomes greater than the "sum
of its parts," but each of the "parts" remains a critical
component.
The "part" I want to highlight here is about the early stage
funding of a company and the development of the company's product and
underlying IP.
The most typical scenario associated with my practice is what I will
call the "University" model. University-funded research carried
out by faculty/students ultimately leads to a technical advance in a particular
field. This activity is a seed that germinates into an invention disclosure
(ID), which gets submitted to the university's technology transfer office
(eg. CCTEC at Cornell; Office of Technology Transfer at the University
of Rochester). Tech transfer performs its various evaluations and, in
a typical case, a provisional patent application is filed.
Despite the often clever and amazing technology that is described in
the ID, the challenge faced by tech transfer is to identify a viable business
plan and/or licensee that can help grow the seed into a successful venture.
This process requires early stage money not only for continuing technical
research and IP work such as freedom to operate analyses and patent portfolio
development, but an impassioned management team who can tee it all up
for more significant later stage funding and successful exit.
As one can easily imagine, the greatest risk of failure is also at this
early stage, thus investment in the $50K to $1MM range, while absolutely
critical, may be the hardest to come by.
The real picture, however, is one of competitive opportunity. There
are numerous individual angel investors and seed funds whose purpose is
to make successful early stage investments in start-up companies.
A recently formed regional early stage resource is the Seed Capital
Fund of Central New York (www.SCFCNY.com). The SCF, managed by Nasir Ali
out of the Syracuse Technology Garden, has 42 members and a capital pool
of just over $1.5MM. The Fund looks to invest between $50 - $250K in each
venture it selects. SCF's first investment was recently made in a Cornell
spin-out company. The company utilizes proprietary carbon nanofiber technology
for scanner and image projection applications.
Anyone can make an application for consideration to pitch their endeavor
to SCF (go to www.SCFCNY.com). Over the past 2 months, SCF has screened
some two dozen applications and listened to a half-dozen presentations.
Groups of the Fund's members proceed with due diligence on those presentations
that merit further interest.
In addition to SCF, there are various county, state, and private for-profit
and not-for-profit organizations of similar ilk. The Southern Tier Opportunity
Coalition (STOC) in Binghamton, NY sponsors a not-for-profit angel funding
group. Roger Williams at Cornell is involved in the NY Angel Network which
helps provide a connection between the registered angel groups throughout
NY state.
Despite the daily news of global economic uncertainty, we live in an
environment that is mined with springboards of opportunity for business
growth and success. Patents and angels are steps in the journey.
Oh, and please pass the Bordeaux.
Bill Greener is a registered patent attorney and
a partner in the firm of Bond Schoeneck & King, PLLC(www.BSK.com).
BS&K's Ithaca office is in the Cornell Business & Technology Park
at 10 Brown Rd., Suite 201. 607-330-4012; wgreener[at]bsk.com. He is also
a member of SCFCNY and RRPC.
Contact RRPC
How does one acquire the coveted RRPC Newsletter Cub
Reporter Badge?
Contact us with industry news and be the first in your
office to wear one (or hide it in your desk).
New York Photonics and the Rochester Regional Photonics
Cluster are active and growing collaborative organizations. Efforts are
under way on joint training events, workforce development, collaborative
advertising opportunities, promoting the commercialization of I.P., and
the development of our website to further facillitate business development.
Join us! There are advantages to working together, and
we are interested in working with you. Send an email to us at membership@rrpc-ny.org.
To subscribe, to unsubscribe, to submit a news item or upcoming event,
to suggest a feature or column, or to offer feedback, contact Tom
Battley, at 585-329-4029.
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