The Colorado Photonics Industry Association (CPIA), a not-for profit organization dedicated to enhancing work in the photonics industry in Colorado, has announced that a former board member was confirmed as Undersecretary of Energy. Kristina M. Johnson served as the director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Optoelectronics Computing Systems while at the University of Colorado at Boulder. During that time, she was helped to form the association and served on its board of directors. Most recently she served as the provost at the Johns Hopkins University.