The New York State Photonics board of directors approved a proposal for the allocation of $27.5 million to fund the AIM Photonics Test, Assembly, and Packaging (TAP) Facility in Rochester, N.Y. The proposal would see $23 million go toward new equipment and tool upgrades to further enhance the TAP facility’s research and development capabilities and $4.5 million in operational support to amplify the consortium’s collaboration with regional universities. These continued partnerships, notably with the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Monroe Community College, will serve to create educational opportunities for students, helping to train the high-technology manufacturing workforce needed to support the photonics industry in the region and statewide, New York State Empire State Development (ESD) said. The New York State Photonics board approved a proposal for $27.5 million in previously committed New York state funding to be invested in AIM Photonics. Courtesy of AIM Photonics. The specific recommendations made during the March 9 virtual meeting are part of the state’s original $250 million commitment to AIM Photonics. Officials from AIM Photonics updated the board on the consortium’s membership and on its customer pipeline. Currently, 196 organizations are engaged with AIM, including members, customers, collaborators, and organizations that use the process design kit (PDK) developed by AIM, and additional interested collaborators from across the U.S. In 2021, AIM Photonics secured a seven-year cooperative agreement with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, which includes support totaling more than $321 million from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense service labs, private companies, colleges, universities, and other state governments that will be used to help ensure the manufacturing readiness of advanced photonics, a technology that is essential to national security and critical to the future of high-performance microelectronics.