It’s been roughly 18 months since the Connecticut Optics and Photonics Association Inc. (CTOPA) was formed to grow the optics industry in Connecticut. What has been accomplished?
We formed a working relationship with Shipman & Goodwin LLP. They helped us with becoming a legal entity. We are an official nonprofit business league as of April 2008. Our home office is located at Shipman & Goodwin LLP in Hartford. We held our first annual meeting, July 2008, where the voting members officially elected our first board of directors. In March of 2008, U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney called for a CTOPA educational summit meeting held at his office in Norwich to discuss the present and future status of optics and photonics education in our state. Some of our state’s finest educational institutions have joined, including Three Rivers Community College, the University of Hartford, and Yale University. Our main goal for 2009 is to grow our membership.
What positions Connecticut so well to see growth in the photonics and optics industry?
Connecticut’s optics/photonics industry covers the entire spectrum. That is, we are not focused on a given sector within the optics/photonics market space. Thus, the Connecticut optics/photonics industry has the potential to grow since the industry as a whole will grow globally. We plan to expand our reach to encompass all areas in the world with a strong market for our industry. Some of these relationships have led to our industry members forming business relations with other businesses to better compete globally and increasing their sales.
How is the optics industry in Connecticut weathering the recent recession? Is it still an attractive industry to attract here?
As released by PhotonicOnline, two of the three “Rising Stars” in the optics industry are Newport-Oriel, a CTOPA member, based in Stratford, and Andor Technology, a CTOPA Board member, based in South Windsor. Andor Technology continues to beat investor estimates for record earnings. Of course as a whole, the industry is impacted by the global recession without a doubt. Our industry members have their own global contacts within the industry. When this is coupled with other members such as the Connecticut Economic Resource Center and Connecticut Innovations, we stand to attract more businesses.
A CERC research paper linked to on your website, www.ctopa.org, says we can expect a transition from copper wire to fiber optic as the need for data transmission increases. Is this a government infrastructure problem or something industry is going to need to solve?
Both. At present, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology dominates the broadband market. Experts say that optical fibers could overtake DSL in the U.S. within five to 10 years. Telecommunications companies are always concerned with their return-on-investment. Thus, any government help in rolling out optical fibers will increase the probability of making it happen. Technology, such as Ethernet over copper, also exists which can mate a building with a copper infrastructure and an optical fiber network at much lower costs. One of the challenges telecommunications companies face in deploying new optical fibers, besides the high cost, is the installation without disturbing other underground systems and the impact of any construction on the environment and public safety.
