Mountains & Minds – With laser intensity – Optics community rooted at MSU drives Bozeman, Montana’s local industry and is recognized globally

Since the first optics company came to Bozeman, Montana in 1980, 32 optics-related companies have formed in the area, with 27 of them still operating in the Gallatin Valley. MSU graduates started 15 of the 32 companies. Those numbers equal significant job creation and a more diversified economy in the Gallatin Valley, said Joe Shaw, an electrical and computer engineering professor at MSU and the current director of OpTeC.

The numbers also give Bozeman the distinction of being home to twice the number of optics companies per capita as Tucson, Ariz., which is widely regarded as a major center of the optical industry, Shaw said.

In addition, the number of collaborations between local companies and MSU is growing. In 1993, there were three collaborative relationships. Ten years later, the number had jumped to seven. This year, there are at least 16 university-industry collaborations in lasers and optics.

by Anne Cantrell

Full Story: http://www.montana.edu/mountainsandminds/article.php?article=10312