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$11.5 million sought for laser research in Rohnert Park
Published: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 10:32 p.m.
One of the more eye-opening earmarks supported by local legislators involves $11.5 million, NASA and a laser research lab in Rohnert Park.
Sen. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, has asked for $6.5 million and Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, has requested that $5 million be included in an upcoming appropriations bill for the Center for American Laser Innovations.
The idea is to build a public-private laser research and development lab in Rohnert Park at the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster.
The goal of the center would be to “develop advanced fiber laser technologies that will generate significant job growth focused around applications of the photonics industry, including medical device manufacture, clean-tech, microelectronics, and life sciences while supporting the exploration and science mission of NASA,” according to a description of the project on Woolsey's Web site.
Michael Newell, director of the business cluster, said job creation is the number one goal of the project.
“You can have all of these shovel-ready jobs, but the real thing that drives our economy and drives jobs is innovation,” Newell said.
There have been significant advances in laser technologies in recent years, and there are new applications for these technologies just waiting to be found, he said.
Backers of the center include Raydiance Corp. of Petaluma, a maker of short-pulse lasers, and Sonoma State University's engineering department. The company's lasers, for example, don't generate the heat of their predecessors and can be used in an array of new ways.
The backers met with Thompson and Woolsey about two months ago. The funds are being requested under NASA's budget, and the space agency would direct much of the research at the center. NASA's two core directives are to find way to use new technologies to help its exploration programs, and to partner with private industries to accomplish those goals, Newell said.
The $11.5 million would fund the center for the first year. Private partners will contribute a total of $3.5 million, Newell said.
The money would only fund the first year of operations. About $50 million in investment over four to five years is envisioned, after which the center would fund its own operations by charging customers, Newell said.
“We're not just after a handout, we're looking at an investment — one that will return money over time to the government,” Newell said.
In the short term, jobs would be created by hiring engineers and lab techs. When new technologies emerge and new companies are spun off, hundreds of additional jobs would be created, Newell said.
The North Bay would be the ideal place for such a center, he said, because it is home to two industries at the forefront of laser technologies — the telecommunication and medical technology industries.
The telecom industry, which has a strong presence in Sonoma County, has long used lasers to send huge chunks of data across global fiber-optic networks. And medical device manufacturers, including companies such as Medtronic, are increasingly using lasers to manufacture their delicate devices, Newell said.
And in an era where so much fabrication happens overseas, an added benefit is that the lab would build some domestic manufacturing capacity, Newell said.
Unlike a purely academic laboratory, the center would focus less on discovering new technologies and more on “tweaking and changing and adapting” existing technology to new uses, said Saeid Rahimi, dean of SSU's School of Science and Technology.
He sees a center that can “be like a seed that will work to develop new ideas, new thoughts and new inventions.”
As a backer of the center, Raydiance would get first crack at the new technologies generated by the center, he said. The business cluster also would assist in patenting new discoveries, he said.
Raydiance is currently working with the space agency to use its lasers to develop “advanced microfluidics devices for space-based biological experiments” in satellites and floating laboratories such as the International Space Station, according to the company.
The agency likely would use the center to help it solve engineering problems related to solar panels, biometric sensors and specialized medical devices.
“If we are successful, I think this will have long-term ramifications for this region in terms of job creating and in term of bringing the best and brightest to our region,” Newell said. “We think this is exciting and think it's a good use of dollars.”
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.
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