Five Questions With: Jack Healy

Jack Healy is president and CEO of Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a resource for manufacturers.
Jack Healy is president and CEO of Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a resource for manufacturers.

Jack Healy, president and CEO of Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a resource for manufacturers, talks with Providence Business News about a new partnership with the American Institute for Integrated Photonics in Rochester, N.Y., to develop a photonics ecosystem to benefit Massachusetts manufacturers.

PBN: What does the MassMEP partnership with the AIM Photonics Institute mean for Massachusetts manufacturers?

HEALY: MassMEP will promote access to the AIM Photonics Institute that is financed by over $600 million dollars that will be focused on the development of a U.S.- based end-to-end integrated photonics ecosystem.
This ecosystem includes domestic foundry access, integrated design tools, packaging test and workforce training in a complete combination to support accelerated innovation.
As various photonics technologies and products become ever more complex as their life cycles shrink, a support network is required from lab to marketplace that is beyond the abilities of the majority of today’s manufacturers. The AIM Photonics Institute will provide a large network of organizations – suppliers of equipment, parts and services, schools, colleges.
MassMEP will organize the development of photonics clusters within the state … MassMEP will survey cluster industry members to determine the needed photonics manufacturing skills requirements to be communicated to the educational partners for the development of skill pathways for the next generation of photonics workers.
MassMEP will organize and hold photonics technology workshops and an innovation expo so as to ensure that the work and capabilities of the institute are rapidly absorbed within the state’s photonics community.
MassMEP, as part of this initiative, will support Quinsigamond Community College’s Technology Accelerator that will function as the state’s Photonics Technology and Training Hub.

PBN: Is photonics a growing industry in Massachusetts and the U.S.?

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HEALY: Photonics consist of a number of technologies that are captured in various industrial codes that make obtaining numbers as to overall growth as problematic. We know from individual company experience such as IPG Photonics in Oxford, Mass. IPG started several years ago with less than 30 employees and is now operating with close to 800 employees in our state and several hundred additional overseas employees with over $750 million in sales.
We have a significant manufacturing photonics cluster in the Worcester-Southbridge area that has experienced continual growth limitations due to a lack of skilled job candidates.
On the national scene, all of the country’s major photonics and optical trade associations and technical societies have allied behind the new AIM Photonics institute. Photonics and optical high-tech products, commonplace throughout the industrial economy, are now being manufactured overseas. The intent of the AIM Photonics Institute is to overcome this deficit by developing, commercializing and manufacturing the next generation of photonics.
The development of the photonics initiative has involved 100 experts from academia, industry and federal agencies who have formed committees focusing on five of the biggest impact areas for optics and photonics in the U.S. economy: advanced manufacturing, communications and information technology, defense and national security, energy, and health and medicine.
The Defense Department, with its $110 million investment, represents the federal sponsor of the institute, as photonics has become the basis of modern warfare, with night vision, laser targeting, sensors, imaging and optical data transmissions. The DOD, with this sizeable investment, obviously recognizes that the U.S. has to stay at the forefront of optics and photonics, both in research and manufacturing, because of the technology’s ability to be so disruptive. In addition, the Institute will work closely with all of the government partners including the Department of Energy, Commerce, NASA and the National Science Foundation.
PBN: What kind of education and workforce programs will be made available through this partnership?

HEALY: Education and workforce is a separate and distinct responsibility within the AIM Photonics Institute. Quinsigmond Community College has been designated as the National Community College Technical Lead for this educational initiative. The initiative will be focused on creating an educated and skilled photonics workforce at all technical and supply chain levels. From technician through researcher, being capable of sustaining the commercial and DOD industrial base is critical for the success of the U.S. Optics and photonics enterprise. The starting curriculum to achieve this is as follows: Efforts will also be made in training students in the above curriculums for MassMEP to promote and provide entrepreneurial skills that will prepare the students for success in the development and commercialization of photonics products.
PBN: There is always talk about China taking business away from U.S. manufacturing. How is the manufacturing sector faring in Massachusetts?
HEALY
: The manufacturing sectors in both the Boston and Worcester metropolitan areas have continued to grow their manufacturing GDP at 3 percent rate compounded annually vs. the national manufacturing GDP rate (which includes the growth of automotive and petroleum industries) of 3.9 percent for the same period. Unfortunately the western part of the state, along with Bristol County, has not performed as well primarily due to the lack of advanced manufacturing. We look for the development of the photonics industry to assist these underperforming areas of the state to improve.

PBN: What are some of the resources that MassMEP offers the manufacturers in our state?

HEALY: MassMEP’s objective as an implementation partner with the AIM Photonics Institute is to assist the small manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) with a willingness to grow and sustain their businesses through innovative collaborations, while building bridges with universities, colleges and national innovation manufacturing institutes, in order to reskill their workforce. This direct assistance will include leveraging innovation and commercialization opportunities within the industrial community both domestically and internationally through our B2B network system.

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