CREOL (College of Optics and Photonics) held a town hall meeting for Congressman John Mica at the University of Central Florida on August 7th, 2013. MJ Soileau, Vice President for Research and Commercialization at UCF invited Dr. Alex Fong (President of Florida’s Photonics Industry Cluster), Dean Bahaa Saleh (CREOL), and Executive Director Peter Baker (Laser Institute of America) .
This meeting was organized to brief Rep. John Mica, U.S. Representative for Florida’s 7th congressional district on the efforts to support the National Photonics Initiative (NPI – http://www.lightourfuture.org/) and the recommendations in the NPI white paper “Lighting the Path to a Competitive, Secure Future” that was issued in May. LIA’s Executive Director delivered a presentation on LIA’s support and history regarding advanced manufacturing.
Peter Baker said, “Congressman Mica showed a keen interest in Advanced Manufacturing, 3D printing and LIA’s conferences, workshops and educational offerings in this area. I was encouraged to learn that Congressman Mica plans to review Federal grant spending with the intention that tax payers should receive return on their investment. Congressman Mica is focused on results!”
