State funding bolsters institute's work

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM
News Services Editor

Prospects for an emerging laser and photonics industry in Western New York have brightened, thanks to a $500,000 allocation from New York State, sponsored by Sen. Mary Lou Rath, to the UB Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics.

A significant portion of the funding will be used to target technologies that will positively impact regional economic growth, said Paras Prasad, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the departments of Chemistry and Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences and executive director of the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics.

This will involve taking them from the fundamental research-and-development stage, through prototype fabrication, scale-up strategies and cost optimization and into productive partnerships with local industry.

Prasad said the funding will be of great value in readying these technologies for the marketplace, resulting in the creation of new high-tech jobs. The funds also will provide the institute with resources to cooperate and collaborate with local companies in ways that will enhance their competitive advantage in lasers, telecommunications, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

"We are extremely grateful to Sen. Rath for her strong support of our institute as a means of enhancing this new high-technology industry in Western New York," said Prasad. "With this support, she has demonstrated her vision for a Western New York region that generates economic growth through the development of high-paying, high-technology opportunities."

Noted Rath: "The work that Dr. Prasad and his colleagues do is considered among the best in the world. I feel privileged to be able to assist them as they continue to make progress in so many vital areas. The institute is a tremendous asset to Western New York, both economically and as a leader in searching for medical cures."

UB President William R. Greiner called Rath "a tireless and highly effective advocate in the state legislature for UB. Her support for the institute is just the latest example of her commitment to higher education-and to partnerships that promote economic growth in Western New York."

Two technologies developed in Prasad's lab have the most significant potential for immediate commercialization with only a moderate investment.

The first is a plastic infiltration technology that allows for colored dyes and coatings to be infused into many kinds of plastic products after they have been manufactured, a potentially enormous cost-savings to manufacturers who currently must dye the plastic during the manufacturing process. Potential applications include eyeglasses, contact lenses, fluorescent toys, electronic displays, flexible metallic conductors and large-area panels for solar energy.

Another promising technology allows for production of a new generation of highly secure identification cards. These cards provide tamper-proof identification and encoding of data beneath their surfaces that can be read only by specialized lasers. Applications range from government and military uses to medical ID cards for patients.

A third technology being enhanced by institute researchers that could be commercialized with moderate investment is the production of computer-automated laser sculptures, where etchings within the interior of a transparent solid, such as glass, are produced by a laser.

Other institute advances that will take longer to commercialize but will have a major impact in their respective fields include:

- Data storage: The institute has patented techniques and materials that allow for the three-dimensional, optical storage of data on high-capacity CDs in layers less than one-tenth of the thickness of a human hair.

- Optical amplifiers for telecommunications: The institute has developed a new approach that uses multi-componen, sol-gel processing to produce materials capable of amplifying optical signals to the highest levels attainable.

- Novel photodynamic cancer therapy: The institute has received a patent on two-photon materials for use in photodynamic therapy that allow physicians to treat deeper tumors than currently is possible. The institute is collaborating on the work with Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

- Tracking of selectively targeted chemotherapeutic agents: In collaboration with Nobel laureate Andrew Schally of Tulane University and the VA Hospital in New Orleans, the institute developed new fluorescent dyes that, when attached to such biological carriers as drugs provide high-resolution, real-time imaging of living cells and tissues and better targeting of drugs to specific tissues.

- Three-dimensional bioimaging that will allow for a range of new applications, from development of better bonding agents for dental restorations to visualizations of living cells invaded by pathogenic microorganisms. Since the instituteÕs inception last fall, more than 20 UB faculty members from across the university have become affiliated with the institute, providing for truly multi-disciplinary interaction.

Major companies with which the institute has formed or is forming partnerships include Eastman Kodak; Corning, Inc.; Bausch & Lomb, and BASF. Regional companies include Laser Photonics Technology; Diamond Cutters of Western New York; Great Lakes Orthodontics, Ltd., and Pixel Physics of Rochester.