CAROLINAS MICROOPTICS TRIANGLE                                                                                                      
SYMPOSIUM SET APRIL 27-28 AT WCU

Western Carolina University and its partners in the Carolinas MicroOptics Triangle will sponsor a two-day symposium that will bring together educators, business executives, economic development officials and industry experts from the fields of optics, nanotechnology and rapid prototyping.

The symposium, hosted by Western's Kimmel School of Construction Management, Engineering and Technology, and Center for Integrated Technologies, will be held Thursday and Friday, April 27-28.

A research alliance involving WCU, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Clemson University, the Carolina MicroOptics Triangle is designed to develop fiber optic communication capacity in Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina.

The CMOT is working to attract high-tech industries that have traditionally located in the Research Triangle Park or Silicon Valley, and to prepare students for careers with those companies. Formed in 2002, the CMOT enables the universities to pool resources to tap into the $236-billion-a-year photonics industry, which is growing at a rate of 12.5 percent a year.

Photonics, sometimes called electronics at the speed of light, is the science upon which today's information technology is built and is the backbone of the Internet-driven technology revolution. The CMOT provides support in the areas of advanced manufacturing, the automotive industry, defense and homeland security initiatives, life sciences and telecommunications.

“This symposium is an important part of our efforts to help the region rebound from job losses in the textile and furniture industries by beginning to build the foundation to develop new optics-related businesses,” said Phillip Sanger, director of WCU's Center for Integrated Technologies. “In the past three years, more than $86 million of building and equipment has been invested in the Carolinas MicroOptics Triangle, which is now one of the largest optical clusters in the world.”

Registration for the April 27-28 symposium at WCU is now under way. Cost to attend the symposium is $75. For more information or to register, contact the Center for Integrated Technologies at (828) 227-2159, via e-mail at lplemmons@email.wcu.edu , or visit the Web site at http://edoutreach.wcu.edu/nanoRP to register.