Colorado's photonics industry, which employs more than 28,000 people in Colorado, is poised to grow in 2004, according to new research published by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business.
The findings appear in the 2004-05 Colorado Photonics Industry directory published by the Leeds School's Business Research Division and Business Advancement Center and commissioned by the Colorado Photonics Industry Association.
The International Society for Optical Engineering is holding its annual conference in Denver Aug. 2-6, bringing 5,000 photonics researchers and business people to Colorado.
Photonics is the use of light to create products and services in industries including telecommunications, aerospace, data storage and medical equipment. The directory highlights research on the industry and offers current information about photonics companies, consultants, organizations and federal and university laboratories in Colorado.
"While the photonics industry has lost jobs recently, the strength of the aerospace sector and projected gains in manufacturing and telecommunications along with a healthy base of knowledgeable, high-tech employees in Colorado paves the way for growth in this industry in 2004," said Gary Horvath, marketing analyst at the CU-Boulder Business Research Division.
During the past three years, Colorado's photonics industry in Colorado felt the pains of the recent downturn because some companies had strong ties to telecommunications and computer hardware, according to Horvath. However, between 2002 and 2003 more than half of Colorado photonics companies actually kept the same number of employees or added employees, he said.
"The Colorado cluster produces a wide array of products, with its strength being in the areas of laser systems, optoelectronic devices, detectors, sensors, electronic devices, camera systems, imaging systems and miscellaneous test equipment," said Silvia Mioc, president of the Colorado Photonics Industry Association.
Colorado is home to 200 photonics organizations, most of which are small companies employing 100 or fewer people. The research also showed that the average worker in the photonics industry earns about $79,000, about twice the average wage for Colorado workers.
"As an enabling technology, photonics is critical to our state economy because of its importance to emerging industries such as aerospace, electronic products, defense and homeland security, biotech devices and telecommunications," Horvath said. "Specifically it is an important part of the products and services provided by such companies as Ball Aerospace and Technology, Intel, ITN Energy, Research Systems Inc. and Cardio-Optics."
The directory will be available free of charge on the Web on Aug. 1 at .