January 17, 2012
By: Tom Tobin, Staff Writer
Source: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Sen. Charles Schumer has made a pitch to the Department of Defense to direct some its high-tech and state-of-the-art optics funding to upstate New York and the micro-processing facility in Canandaigua.
The STC Center in Canandaigua, formerly the Infotonics Center, is a manufacturing facility for nano-sized, or ultra-small, devices used in sensors and other military equipment. The STC Center is a partner with SUNY Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Technology.
The U.S. Navy has a major program in the works to upgrade its military hardware. American companies and politicians are lobbying for a share of the lucrative military contracts.
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Albany-based College of Nanoscale Science and Technology has developed a network of research and development units, including the Canandaigua center, that fits the military’s needs.