UNC Research Center Moves to New Facility

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte's Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications will move next month to the new Physics and Optical Science building, which also houses the Department of Physics and Optical Science and the Charlotte Research Institute (CRI). CRI supports research centers in precision metrology, optoelectronics, e-business technology and bioinformatics and initiatives in biomedical engineering systems, nanotechnology, motorsports and automotive research, information security, and visual analytics. The physics and optical science building opened in February. Michael Fiddy, director of the Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications, was formerly head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he created an optics center that now consists of four laboratories equipped for experimental work and computational research. Bob Wilhelm, a professor of mechanical engineering and engineering science at UNC and former associate director of the Center for Precision Metrology, is executive director of the CRI, which is developing business partnerships in the Charlotte region. The new $24 million, 90,000-square foot building promises to raise the profile of the Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. The center said it will work with other regional organizations, including the Carolinas Photonics Cluster, which commercializes research from five area universities, and the Carolinas MicroOptics Triangle, which includes UNC Charlotte, Clemson University and Western Carolina University.