Photonics awards honor leaders, entrepreneurs, educator

Members of the local photonics industry recognized five of their own this week for making various contributions to the field.

The awards were presented at the annual meeting of the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster/New York Photonics Tuesday evening at the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

Entrepreneurship awards, which recognize “creativity, innovative spirit and drive in pursuit of the dream of creating an industry-leading company” in the industry, were presented to Neal P. Elli, president of Empire Precision Plastics in Rochester; and Jayson Tierson, president, and Joseph Serio, founder and vice-president of Vertex Optics in Victor.

The RRPC Leadership Award, which honors a person working with membership and the community to promote the industry, was presented to Julian Goldstein, co-president of Navitar in Henrietta, for the support he and Navitar have provided for the museum’s Strasenburgh Planetarium.

The RRPC Education Award, which recognizes a person who inspires and guides students of optics, photonics and imaging sciences, was presented to Julie Bentley, associate professor at the University of Rochester Institute of Optics.

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