Florida Photonics Center of Excellence
The FPCE was established with a $10 million grant from the State of Florida to create
a new center of excellence within The College of Optics and Photonics at the University
of Central Florida. The program began in July, 2003 with three primary goals:
- Advance excellence in research and graduate education chosen to serve existing and
emerging industry clusters in the state (photonics, optics, lasers)
- Leverage state resources via partnerships with industry and government
- Work in partnership with local, state and regional economic development organizations
to attract, retain and grow knowledge-based, wealth producing industry to Florida.
The focus of the FPCE research and education work is on the technologies of nanophotonics,
biophotonics, advanced imaging and 3D displays, and ultra-high bandwidth communications,
all of which have forecasts of rapid market growth. The $10M state grant is being
used for three purposes:
- to develop infrastructure ($6M for new faculty, new facilities, new equipment)
- to fund competitive R&D Partnership Projects at
Florida universities in partnership with Florida industry ($3.1M)
- to pursue commercialization and outreach ($0.9M) with the help of the FPCE Industrial
Advisory Board, the UCF Technology Incubator, and the Florida Photonics Cluster.
The Photonics Center adds an important new dimension to UCF's internationally renowned
The College of Optics & Photonics. "This new center provides essential resources
needed to expand our photonics efforts into the growing areas of nanophotonics,
biophotonics, advanced imaging and 3D displays, and ultra-high bandwidth communications,"
says Dr. Eric Van Stryland, Dean of CREOL & FPCE, The College of Optics & Photonics.
All of the FPCE programs are still underway as of April 2006. All financial and
schedule milestones have been met to date. Progress to date includes the following:
- Support of 5 new start-up companies
- Establishment of 3 endowments, 2 for
chair faculty positions and one for support of FPCE faculty work ($3M)
- Hiring of one senior chaired faculty member and 4 junior faculty members
- Construction start of a 21,000 ft2 lab/office building addition, supported in part
by a $1.5M grant from the US Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration,
and a $750K grant from the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. It includes space
for an extension of the UCF Incubator.
- Addition of a unique nanophotonics fabrication facility in The College of Optics
and Photonics, which is designed and operated as a user-facility available to industry
- Significant technical and product development results from ongoing
Partnership Projects with industry. $3.1M from FPCE has been used to fund 24
projects at 5 universities and involving 20 company partners who have contributed
$5.3M, several of which will enable new commercial products, and leadership of a
photonics industry cluster activities.
Economic Impact
There have been significant industry spinouts from the technology areas covered
by the FPCE. Five companies, FemtOptics, Optigrate,
CoSci Technologies,
Light Processing Technologies, and Raydiance have been started, with Raydiance being the most mature.
Raydiance Inc., in a very short time period of time, has developed into a 38+ employee
company with an average salary of ~$62K and is expanding. To date, Raydiance has
received over $15M in funding, including $10M in venture capital in the third quarter
of 2004, which was the largest investment in North America that quarter.
The financial return to date on the $10M state grant totals $30,168,876, made up
of the following:
- Revenue from license agreements: $181,250
- Private Awards and Matching Funds: $8,952,539
- Federal Awards: $15,970,187
- UCF (other state) Awards: $5,062,900
Other measures:
- Patents filed: 40
- Patents issued: 14
- Personnel additions at university
or partner company: 31
UCF Personnel additions related to FPCE
We have to date hired five new faculty members in the FPCE technology area of nanophotonics.
The latest addition is Dr. Dennis Deppe, formerly at the University of Texas, Austin,
as a Chaired Professor in Nanophotonics. We have an ongoing search for a Chaired
Professorship in Biophotonics. Dr. James E. Pearson, was hired as Director, Research
& Administration to serve as a liaison to Florida photonics industry, and to help
with FPCE and CREOL management.
Integration of the mission of the FPCE with all levels of the K-20 education system
- A new GK-12 program funded by NSF was obtained with $500K of funding for three years
to provide fellowships to graduate students to work with K-12 teachers to help them
improve their skills for teaching science and math.
- FPCE faculty members are working with students and teachers at all levels of the
education system. High school and middle school students continue to benefit from
FPCE faculty mentoring of projects. We have a permanent agreement with the local
University High School GIFT Magnet program to supervise senior student projects.
Students from other schools are also being supervised in projects.
- We have graduate and undergraduate optics courses taught by FPCE faculty available
statewide via the FEEDS streaming-internet system. We used FPCE funds to upgrade
our classroom to enable this.
- Discussions between FPCE and the UCF Electrical Engineering Department are underway
to enhance the Photonics tracks in graduate EE programs.
- FPCE facilities are being used this semester to provide laboratory components to
Photonics Technology students, as part of the Engineering Technology 2+2 program
in Photonics.
