Rationale for the Engine Model

The US faces an urgent call for strategic independence in critical technologies while it revitalizes domestic manufacturing, in order to ensure national independence for critical supply chains. To build the greatest economy in history, the US must lead the world both in emerging industries and rapidly evolving technologies.

Today, light-based systems and lasers contribute an estimated $16 trillion to the global economy. Manufacturing, metrology, communications, health, and security already depend on the design, engineering, production, and distribution of lasers. Increasingly complex systems require next-generation lasers to achieve necessary levels of productivity and security.

The ROC/FLX region is a recognized center with an internationally unique combination of Optical science and engineering, and integrated Photonics and Imaging (OPI). These strengths position the ROC/FLX region to include lasers and their applications in our existing light-based technologies.

Despite these advantages, the US laser ecosystem remains fragmented across research, technology development, manufacturing, and workforce training. This fragmentation slows the transition of breakthroughs from laboratory to market, limits domestic manufacturing scale, and constrains workforce readiness. No single institution, sector, or short-term funding mechanism can address these challenges in isolation.

The Regional Innovation Engine model is uniquely suited to overcome these barriers. Through its integrated pillars of use-inspired research and development, translation of innovations to impact, and education and workforce development, STELLAR will align regional assets into a coordinated, long-term innovation system. This Engine approach enables sustained collaboration across academia, industry, government, and workforce partners to accelerate the development, commercialization, and domestic manufacturing of next-generation laser technologies critical to US economic leadership and national security.