Senator Clinton Visits National Center for Excellence in Infotonics

Press Release

Senator Clinton Visits National Center for Excellence in Infotonics

Highlights Federal Funds Secured for Ongoing Construction and Maintenance of the World Class Research and Development Lab

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today visited Canandaigua's National Center for Excellence in Infotonics, where companies from across New York work with world class industrial and university scientists to bridge the gap between basic research and product manufacturing using photonics. Senator Clinton highlighted the over $7 million in federal funding that she and her colleagues have secured for the innovative research and development laboratory. Senator Clinton pledged that she will fight this Congress to secure additional funding for the facility to continue building on this incubator of innovation, job creation and economic development.

"The revolutionary work underway at the National Center for Excellence in Infotonics is truly state of the art and a great source of pride for greater Rochester and all of New York," said Senator Clinton. "I am proud to have helped secure funding that has built the Center into a world leader in cutting edge research. By investing in the groundbreaking work being done right here in the greater Rochester region, we are investing in the local economy and the future of the entire state. I will continue to work to secure the kind of meaningful federal investments the Center needs to continue to thrive."

The Center has enjoyed many successes, including putting Thermal Gradient on equal footing with other, more firmly established competitors. This gave the company access to a prototype which led to venture capital funding and, ultimately, to the execution of a successful business model. The work of the Center also has been vital to small companies that are working on the cutting edge technology relied upon by the United States Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"The current challenge is to continue to create partnerships between government, academia and business in order to create jobs and promote economic development in Upstate New York. I stand ready to assist the Center as it fosters research and collaborations that link entrepreneurs and small businesses with venture capital," said Senator Clinton. The National Center for Excellence is an industry-university-New York State Government-led, non-profit research partnership created to help utilize the existing concentration of photonics industries and university research capabilities. The Center of Excellence - under the auspices of Corning, Kodak, Xerox - works with a network of New York academic institutions including the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, Monroe Community College and Brookhaven National Lab to lock in New York's top spot in photonics, optics and fiber optics.

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