M-LIGHT, the Photonics Industry Cluster of Michigan quietly put up a placeholder web page – a sort of pre-alpha way of saying, “we’re here.”  Watch this space: M-LIGHT is organizing a hundred companies, as well as universities and economic development agencies around Michigan’s not-insignificant Photonics Industry.

What the heck is that?

Photonics is lasers (welding, eye surgery, e.g.).  It’s optics (machine vision, holographic sighting, e.g.).  Photonics is green (photovoltaics, nanocomposite batteries, e.g.).  Photonics is communications (fiber optic networks, LADAR, e.g.).   It’s the science behind the veryvery fast, the veryvery small, the veryvery cold, and the veryvery far. Photonics is to photons as electronics is to electrons.

Electrons are so old-school.  Electronics was hot in the 60′s and 70′s.  Now its about photons.

And photons are raining down on Michigan: M-LIGHT seeks to organize the industry into an economic “cluster,” boosting development opportunities all around.  Thence www.m-light.org – watch this space.