AIM Photonics Awaits 2nd Round of Funding
TIMES UNION
Author: Larry Rulison
The American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics, or AIM Photonics, a $600 million national semiconductor manufacturing program located in Albany and Rochester, appears to be on the cusp of lining up another round of government funding that could sustain it for the rest of the decade.
AIM Photonics, which develops computer chip technology that is powered by lasers instead of electrons, was first announced in 2015 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and then-Vice President Joe Biden.
The national manufacturing institute was initially funded by a $110 million grant from the Defense Department and another $250 million from New York state. Industry partners have contributed the rest.
Now, with the initial five-year window of funding coming to an end, AIM Photonics officials say they are hopeful that a second government funding package is on the horizon to keep the program running just as it is hitting its stride.
"Discussions are under way with the federal government and New York state on the next phase, and those discussions have been really encouraging," Ed White, associate vice president of AIM Photonics, told the Times Union on Tuesday.
DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE
Author: Brian Sharp
Operators of a Rochester-based photonics initiative say they are working to secure a seven-year deal with "significant" federal funding to sustain operations.
The expectation has been that support from the U.S. Department of Defense would continue. But how much, and for how long, has been an open — an increasingly pressing — question.
"Getting this deal done fairly soon is really important," said Ed White, associate vice president with the initiative's Testing Assembly and Packaging facility located on Lake Avenue. "We don’t want an interruption in the operation."
The funding news could help to project greater stability as candidate interviews begin for a new leader of the institute. Former CEO Michael Cumbo left for a more lucrative job with a private-equity firm in January, after just seven months at the helm.