Clemson is teaming with industry and technical colleges to bring new innovations to market and to build a highly trained work force and attract high-paying industry. The University's photonics research - attracting more than $13 million in outside funding in three years - has earned the National Science Foundation's economic development stamp of approval.

The $600,000 "stamp" - a grant from the prestigious NSF Partnerships for Innovation program - paves the way for an extended regional partnership that will create the innovation infrastructure needed to commercialize the photonics research conducted at Clemson.

Clemson's Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET) is the only university R&D lab in the Southeast focused on the development of new optical materials. The brains and economic brawn behind the photonics research are COMSET teamed with Clemson's Arthur M. Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The demand for the photonic materials used in communication is expected to grow from less than $13 million in 2001 to more than $2 billion by 2005. Future use of photonic materials and devices in industrial, medical and computing applications will add to these demand scenarios.