The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2006-2007

Abstract

This annual report summarizes activities of the BUPC over the period of July, 2006 through June, 2007, corresponding to the University’s fiscal year. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in research, education, technology development, and commercialization. This reporting period included a milestone, as BUPC completed its tenth year of operation in its landmark building in the heart of the University’s Charles River Campus. Faculty research activity reached an all time high when evaluated by the usual metrics of external funding, scholarly publications, honors and awards. The Center’s educational programs were bolstered by two summer programs hosting more than 40 undergraduate interns, and by the launch of a competitive graduate fellowship program sponsoring ten BUPC graduate fellowships. In technology development, the prototype RedOwl sniper detection system pioneered by Center faculty, staff, and industry partners was fieldtested by the US Department of Defense, and has been handed off to industry partners for further pre-commercial development. Three new defense/security prototypes were developed by BUPC to address critical national defense needs in the past year and 13 faculty development projects were supported in collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory to fill the technology pipeline for our future defense-related prototyping efforts. The Center’s business incubator had a transformative year. After revising its core mission and operational strategy in the summer of 2006, the incubator generated significant demand for the intellectual environment, facilities, and expertise available to participating companies. New companies attracted by this revised value proposition now occupy all available space.