Rochester’s Photonics Institute has won a Defense Department contract to develop photonic sensors — that can quickly detect the presence of chemical or biological weapons, or do equally well at monitoring food safety and detecting disease pathogens.
The $2.3 million project is funded partly through the government and partly by matching funds from the AIM Photonics industrial partners. It will be led by the University of Rochester, but Army, Navy, University of California and other labs will also be part of it.
The Photonics Institute board says this will be revolutionary technology, and eventually translate into economic growth for the Rochester region.