Industrial Associates

Membership

The Institute of Optics has a long tradition of collaborating with industry through research, consultation, service in professional societies, and a variety of informal exchanges.

The Industrial Associates (IA) program exists to cultivate relationships between optics academics and industry professionals. These productive relationships reduce recruitment costs for IA members, while also developing a channel of communication between optical researchers in academia and industry. The Industrial Associates program supports an exchange of ideas, resources, and talent between industry and the University of Rochester, collectively meeting the mutual needs of industry, research, and academia.

Revenue generated from IA plays a critical role in the overall operation of the Institute and is used to support activities that would otherwise not be funded including:

• Cutting edge educational programs
• New course development
• Student research projects
• Student conferences and IA networking events
• The Institute of Optics Summer Short Course series

The program's membership fees are also used to:

• Recruit top graduate students
• Purchase specialized laboratory equipment
• Support student projects
• Run optics industry events and trainings

Benefits and Levels

In addition to our traditional membership levels (pdf), we are now offering honorary memberships for early stage companies, trade memberships for professional societies, and grants in-kind membership for organizations that provide state-of-the art equipment for student training and research.

Member benefits include:

• Building partnerships that advance business goals.
• Recruitment—Access to Institute of Optics student resumes and facilitated job interviews.
• Attendance to the IA bi-annual meetings—Promote your company at IA events on campus and inspire the next generation of students.
• Collaboration with the Institute of Optics faculty.
• Access to the Institute of Optics colloquium series. 
• Discounted tuition in the Summer Short Course series and master’s program.
• Supporting innovation, research, and entrepreneurship by funding student programs.