Photonics, the generation, detection, and manipulation of light, forms the cornerstone of countless everyday technologies. Advances in communications, national security, healthcare, electronics, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and numerous other industries depend on the use of light. For instance, LIDAR for self-driving cars and heritage conservation, PCR testing which depends on optical fluorescence to detect RNA, remote sensing of contaminants or gas emissions relies on advanced spectroscopic methods, the fastest and most secure communications methods encode information within photons, and advanced manufacturing benefit from high-powered laser sources and sensors.

Photonics impacts major societal grand challenges and will play a crucial role in pushing 21st century applications to be cleaner, smarter, faster, and more secure. Innovation and availability of photonics infrastructure and technology will continue to be crucial in enabling 21st century applications to be cleaner, smarter, and more secure and APT will leverage the existing strengths of the region to establish it as the leading location in the U.S. for corporate and workforce development in photonic technologies.

The expanding societal dependence on photonic technologies requires continuous innovation, workforce development, and a coordinated and diverse ecosystem to keep pace with rapidly increasing market demand. We are poised to address these challenges and opportunities.