WPI, Quinsigamond CC to Share $4M Grant for Joint Integrated Photonics Lab

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) have been awarded a $4 million grant by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to create a comprehensive joint photonics laboratory. The lab will support the growth of the integrated photonics industry across the Northeast while also providing training and education to help build a skilled integrated photonics workforce in Central Massachusetts.

The grant, announced by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito at an event on the WPI campus, will fund a partnership between WPI and QCC for the launch of an AIM (American Institute for Manufacturing) Photonics Academy Lab for Education & Application Prototypes (LEAP). The facility will support the development of the emerging advanced manufacturing sector.

Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, center, tours a WPI lab with Quinsigamond Community College president Luis G. Pedraja and WPI president Laurie Leshin during an event to announce a $4 million state grant to establish a photonics laboratory at WPI. Courtesy of WPI.

Last year, MIT, home of AIM Photonics Academy, received state funding for the first LEAP facility, which focuses on packaging. WPI and QCC will establish the state’s second LEAP facility with a focus on design and testing of integrated photonic devices as well as on workforce development.

WPI and QCC are part of AIM Integrated Photonics. AIM Photonics is one of 14 public-private manufacturing innovation institutes focused on a wide range of technologies that was launched as part of a federal initiative to revitalize American manufacturing. WPI is a member of eight Manufacturing USA institutes, including AIM Photonics.