CREOL e-Highlights Vol 2 Iss 1

Vol. 2, Issue #1

January 2006

Greetings Friends of CREOL:

Welcome to e/Highlights, published monthly by the The College of Optics and Photonics: CREOL & FPCE. Happy New Year. This year is a very special year for the College, CREOL turns TWENTY. In this issue we are glad to announce the start of construction for the building addition and faculty and student news.

If you have any suggestions, comments, or other feedback on information and news from COP that would be most valuable to you, please click here to e-mail us. And please forward this newsletter to others in your company or other colleagues who would like to be kept up to date on the exciting things happening at The College of Optics and Photonics.

Best Regards,

Jim Pearson

Director, Research & Administration

The College of Optics & Photonics: CREOL & FPCE

CREOL BUILDING EXPANSION CONSTRUCTION HAS STARTED

The construction of the 21,000 sq ft expansion to the CREOL building got underway in December, 2005. The scheduled occupancy is November 2006. The 3-floor expansion to the current 83,000 sq ft CREOL building will add much-needed offices and laboratories, a portion of which will be available as an extension to the UCF Incubator. This outreach and offer of partnership through the incubator with small and start-up companies was an important factor in the award of $1.5M from the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration to help fund the building. The remaining $3.8M of the $5.3M projected final cost is being provided by a combination of funds from the Florida Photonics Center of Excellence (FPCE), the UCF Office of Research and Commercialization, the UCF Provost's office, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC), and donations to our Facilities Enhancement Fund. We have an ongoing capital fund-raising campaign, and want to thank the following individuals and companies who have contributed to the Facilities Enhancement Fund to date:

Northrop Grumman Corporation- corporate

Northrop Grumman Corporation - Laser Systems

Harris Corporation

Newport Corporation

LaserPath Technologies

Jing Zu & Bing Zhang

Coherent Technologies

Ray Williamson

Rini Technologies

Rorze Corp

Tiejun Xia

Chi Fu

Dmitri Kovsh

Dr. Douglas & Mrs. Linda Stanley

Trinity Technologies

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Optimax Systems, Inc.

Faculty News

KUEBLER HONORED BY AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Congratulations to Stephen Kuebler. Last month he was honored with the "Outstanding Four Year College Teacher Award for 2005" by the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society

Student News

WELCOME BACK COOKOUT

Dean Eric Van Stryland, the faculty and staff of the College would like to welcome everyone back from the holiday break. We trust that is was relaxing and that you prepared for a dynamic year in 2006. In celebration, we hosted a lunch for students, faculty, and staff on Friday, January 13 th.

Save the Date:

January 24 - 26, 2006

Photonics West Exhibit. Visit the Florida Photonics Cluster and its partners, University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics, Florida High-Tech Corridor, Metro Orlando EDC, Enterprise Florida, Progress Energy, and the Pinellas County EDC on the 1600 isle at the San Jose Convention Center for the 2006 show. Nearly 19 Florida companies will exhibit at Photonics West.
Photonics West Alumni Reunion. Wednesday, January 25, 2006 6:00 - 7:30 pm Drink and Refreshments provided. Location: Gordon Biersch Brewery, 33 E San Fernando St, San Jose, 95113. Friends and Alumni are welcome to attend.

April 18-20, 2006

Defense and Security Symposium. For the first time, the Florida Photonics Cluster has organized a Florida Isle at the 2006 SPIE Defense and Security Symposium (DSS). DSS is the largest non-classified conference for defense contractors.

April 21, 2006

Industrial Affiliates Day. You can watch for updates at: http://www.creol.ucf.edu/people/affiliates/
Spring Thing Annual Picnic @ MJ Soileau's (April 22nd). Look for Details in future issues of e/Highlights.

May 21, 2006

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Meeting. The College of Optics and Photonics is a cooperating organization and will provide tours for attendees. Click here to visit SPIE.