At the time that deal was announced, Tolley and CNSE head Alain Kaloyeros said that the Canandaigua facility had the infrastructure and the skill to bring to manufacturing fruition many of the projects developed at the Albany center by affiliated companies, including IBM, Sematech, Toshiba and Samsung.
Kaloyeros said last week that his intent is to make the Rochester and Canandaigua area the "center of the universe in high-tech sensors."
"We have now about 3,500 jobs at the CNSE center in Albany, and I very definitely see that same thing happening in Canandaigua," Kaloyeros said.
He and Tolley have predicted that having a manufacturing entity attached to a high-level university research and development center will bring in private and government customers.
Tolley said there are many practical uses for sensors of this kind. "If the engineers for that bridge over the Ohio River had a sensor of this kind, they might have been able to detect tiny cracks long before this."
The Sherman Minton highway span, a major link between Indiana and Kentucky, was closed recently after a large crack was found.
Tolley said such devices will be important in the advancement of "green" energy.
Sensors and signals can help reduce company costs by turning off or dimming lights and activating other energy-saving elements.
Tolley said the potential uses in the military, where roadside bombs are a daily threat, are far-reaching. "The Department of Defense is an important customer, and having a capacity at a center like this keeps the government from going overseas to find a contractor," Tolley said.
The former Infotonics Center was one of five Centers of Excellence created by former Gov. George Pataki and the state Legislature in 2001.
It was envisioned as a public-private venture utilizing the regional university system and such corporate leaders as Eastman Kodak Co., Xerox Corp. and Corning Inc.. But the partnership never took off.
The center has blossomed since the merger with the Albany Nanotech center. Carestream Health has a partnership with the STC Center, and Mosher Baer Technologies Inc. has a multimillion-dollar contract to build LED lighting panels at the center.
"More is coming," Tolley said.
"There is room here to expand, and indeed that was the idea when this site was chosen."
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