RochesterOptifab May 14-17 The only conference/exhibit of its type in the U.S., Optifab is uniquely positioned to attract high-end precision optical manufacturers, their suppliers, and the customer base that stands to benefit from this extraordinary supply chain. 173 exhibitors are now registered. Become an exhibitor by going here. Subjects that will be covered in depth, which are crucial to your company and your customers:
A new Invited Speaker who ought to be of interest has been added on Monday afternoon: An Overview of the Optics Industry in China
Mr. Zhou will give an overview of the Chinese Optics Market. Having worked on optics manufacturing projects with U.S. firms since 2001, and just returned from a one month trip to China working with China-based suppliers, Mr. Zhou will provide an overview of the Chinese market including Geography, Workforce, Research & Development, Supply Chain, Finance, Partnership Opportunities and Government Regulation and bureaucracy. Often seen as both a threat and a source for inexpensive commodities, China has targeted Optics as a growth industry and is preparing for the same opportunities in Medical Instruments, Consumer Products and Telecommunications that the rest of the optics world is targeting. What are the implications for Western firms? Are your competitors sourcing from China or selling in China? Once again this year APOMA and RRPC will host a Tuesday night reception featuring Rochester's own Nik & the Nice Guys. Please help by sponsoring this event and letting attendees and exhibitors alike know that Rochester is North America's home for Optics, Photonics and Optical Fabrication. Contact Rick Rivers at 585-586-6906.
Defense & Security RecapOver 45 New York State companies exhibited and decision-makers were in attendance at the Defense and Security Industry at the Annual SPIE Conference in Orlando. The usual complaint among exhibitors in Orlando is "not enough traffic." When pressed, however, it seems that the quality of the attendees makes up for the lower headcount. There were 2,908 conference attendees and 828 exhibit-only visitors. At the New York Photonics booth we fielded a steady stream of both engineers and new business development staff from firms such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, ITT, GE Research and DRS, as well as engineers and technical points of contact from DARPA, Navy and Air Force. The general consensus among the major primes seemed to be that there was more business than they could handle, that they cannot hire enough talent to produce everything in-house, and that they are urgently seeking qualified suppliers of everything from components to subassemblies. This is good news for New York Photonics members: we are actually fielding calls from contacts made at the conference. That is why it is crucial that members have their information updated and current on the website. Mike Bechtold from Optipro gave two technical presentations:
Damon Diehl from ASE Optics:
The venue was difficult for both exhibitors and SPIE who had been promised the "largest pillarless ballroom in the United States" for the exhibit when contracts were signed, but instead had to fit a show that had outgrown the Marriott five years ago into the same space it outgrew. Next year promises to be better in terms of space with the new ballroom and it is important that returning exhibitors note in their early-bird contracts that they want to exhibit in and be part of the New York Cluster neighborhood.
International Resource GroupGlobal Economic and Foreign Exchange Outlook | PIANY / RRPCNew York Photonics Website
RRPC and New York Photonics Members are beginning to recognize that potential customers are driven to the website by advertising / promotion at conferences and publications, and through magazine articles such as this one in Optics & Lasers Europe, distributed throughout Europe and at Defense and Security, CLEO/QELS, and Optifab.
Job Listings: Every week since the website debuted in January applicants have submitted electronic resumes in response to job listings posted by members. New York Photonics members can take advantage of this resource for free by logging in and posting their own job openings. Can't remember your log-in? Send an email to us here.
Advertising Opportunities: Vendors are beginning to take advantage of an inexpensive way to get their name in front of customers through banner ads. See pricing and ad specs here.
Equipment for Sale. In our industry machinery and equipment changes hands through auction, word-of-mouth, through brokers... some people even buy new! Post your equipment and machinery on the website and you will find that other New York State companies are interested.
Private and public discussion boards. If you would prefer to post subjects, anything from a notice looking for a potential collaboration to a technical issue you would like input on, rather than send an email to the entire membership, post it in the private section of the discussion board. The section is password protected so your posting is contained within the confines of the membership.
Wired: Workforce DevelopmentAn Extraordinary, and Extraordinarily Affordable Opportunity For Western New York OPI Firms
Do not miss this chance to advance our industry in the regional school systems, while at the same time accomplishing an important objective of your own choosing.
The Finger Lakes Wired Educator Internship Program, which you may be familar with as the Rochester Area Career Education Collaborative, provides up to 30 paid internships for educators in schools or classrooms, serving grades K through 12, throughout the nine county region (Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates).
Wired is seeking employers to provide work placements and educators to participate in the 4-week internships during the weeks of July 16 through August 10, 2007.
The Wired Educator Internship Program is designed to increase educators’ awareness and knowledge of employer expectations for employees in the non-school workplace, as well as increase the educator interns’ understanding of specialized skills and educational requirements for specific careers. Educator Internships are based on partnerships with employers in industries that include, but are not limited to, emerging sectors of optics and imaging, biotechnology and life science, food and agriculture, advanced manufacturing, alternative energy, information technology, engineering, business services and health care.
There are fifteen qualified teacher-participants ready, willing and able to add value to your enterprise, help you design internal programs, accomplish research objectives... you name it. The cost to your firm is one-half of the teacher stipend: about $900. Wired picks up the other half. You get to send the educator back to their school with a message from our industry... an "optics and photonics ambassador" if you will.
Are Regional Optics firms able to take advantage of this opportunity? We'll see. Contact Contact Kathleen Raniewicz, Internship Project Lead, at (585) 249-7067 or email kathleen_raniewicz[at]boces.monroe.edu. Additional information and the employer application can be found at http://www.fi ngerlakeswired.com
RecognitionScheible wins IT Honor
RRPC member Christine Scheible, CEO of Quantum Technology Associates, based in Rochester, NY, was recently selected as "2007 IT Woman of the Year" by the Upstate New York Association of Women in Computing. The award recognizes the achievements of women in the Information Technology field in the Upstate NY region. Scheible, who started Quantum as a spinoff of Parity Americas, a UK IT Technology services business, runs what is believed to be the only woman-owned and run medical and optical engineering firm in Upstate NY region.
Quantum is a leading engineering and technology firm that works with partners to develop innovative software and engineering solutions for new products. Quantum provides technical teams and outsourced services for medical, optics and technology projects, as well as providing highly talented individuals for hire.
We asked Quantum to share an example of an optical system where the provided value-added IT partnership.
Quantum has a solid history of working successfully with both large corporations and companies that are young and growing. For large operations, Quantum has provided entire project teams and key individuals to round out an engineering team. For smaller firms, Quantum has a number of approaches to meet needs.
As an example, Quantum was recently contacted by a start-up company with a medical imaging need. The company was attracted to Quantum’s 3D data visualization technology, but quickly learned that Quantum was in a position to provide the both the development team and manage the project -- from start to finish -- through commercialization, including satisfying FDA requirements and submissions.
In cases like this, Quantum calls upon its experience to work with the partner to provide a detailed commercialization plan and the skill sets needed to build the offering and then leverages Quantum’s network to find the ideal individuals to develop a top-notch team.
For this project, Quantum worked with the start-up - who at this point didn’t have a technical staff that was ready to commercialize - and prepared a project schedule, defined technology skills needed and provided personnel with both proven skills and the cohesiveness as a team to build this unique device. The project is moving at a pace that has more than satisfied the partner, as well as met the technology needs of the firm. With this approach, the partner avoided the issues associated with hiring personnel, has the opportunity to identify potential employees to hire from our team, and has a highly skilled team building their flagship product.
The product is expected to be ready for clinical testing soon and is currently on schedule.
AlbanyAlbany Nanotech Hosting Unique Event
The American Electronics Association (AeA) and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) are hosting an industry leading, €rst-of-a-kind conference, Circa ‘07, that will bring together representatives from a broad range of industry sectors to discuss common integration platforms and how to use them to create commercially successful products.
All leading market segments, including information technology, energy, aerospace, and healthcare, currently pursue independent research and development pathways operating in silos that often duplicate efforts and miss potential cross-industry partnership opportunities and the common goal of interoperability. Achieving interoperability is often dif€ cult as it requires shared product engineering, industry partnership, access to technology/IP, and implementation of standards. The capital-intensive and technically-diverse challenges of nanotechnology manufacturing compound this challenge. As a result, cost-of-ownership escalates, making commercial success well beyond the reach of many industry manufacturers.
The Albany NanoTech Complex and the UAlbany NanoCollege (CNSE) provide a unique resource for nanotechnology-driven industries by leveraging a $3+ billion investment in state-of-the-art facilities by industry, university and government. More than 150 industry partners from around the world currently pursue research and development demonstrated on industry-compliant nanofabrication processes. These partners are supported by supply-chain best-known-methods that lower the cost, risk and time associated with commercialization. In addition, these methods also enable new business models that support convergent technologies for expanding applications. The result of these collaborative efforts is the “Albany Integration Model.” This new business model bridges technology silos by supporting the drivers of interoperability thereby leading to dramatic reductions in the cost of ownership models.
Interested? Click here for more information.
Contact RRPCNew 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[at]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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Copyright 2007, Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster, Inc. New York Photonics and The Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster (RRPC) are not-for-profit organizations founded to promote and enhance the New York State photonics, optics and imaging industry by fostering the cooperation of business, academia and government. |