Regional economic opportunities created by the National Photonics Initiative (NPI) will be the major topic of discussion today as the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster holds its annual meeting. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) is scheduled to make the opening remarks at the nonprofit group's yearly gathering, which will be held at the Rochester Museum & Science Center. The congresswoman's talk will be followed by a panel discussion on the importance of Rochester's involvement in the NPI. More than 100 optics, photonics, imaging and display companies are based in upstate New York, with 60 located within a 20-mile radius of Rochester. The University of Rochester's Institute of Optics and Laboratory for Laser Energetics, along with the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Infotonics Technology Center, play key roles in optics and photonics research and job training. The initiative, launched in May, is intended to bring together industry, academia and government in an effort to increase investments in fields that are critical both to US competitiveness and national security (See: Photonics Societies Launch National Initiative). Panelists at the meeting include Steve Anderson, industry and market strategist for SPIE; Tom Hausken, senior adviser for The Optical Society (OSA); Jennifer Clark, director of the Center for Urban Innovation in the Ivan Allen College at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Steve Fantone, founder and CEO of Optikos Corp.; and Duncan Moore, vice provost for entrepreneurship and professor of optics at the University of Rochester. For more information, visit: www.rochester.edu or www.lightourfuture.org