In 1999, the Deans of the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Engineering met to establish The Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics. The Institute incorporates the very successful and internationally recognized program at the Photonics research Laboratory and was extended to bring together active multidisciplinary faculty from Medicine, Dental Biology, Engineering, Physics and Chemistry.

The Institute’s focus is Photonics-the science and technology based on light. Photonics has been projected to play a dominant role in this century-impacting communication, information technology and health care, as well as consumer commodities.

The Institute’s vision is much broader than that of a typical academic/research program. In addition to education and training of students, and conducting research, the Institute has a major objective, to contribute to the economic development of the region. Thus, the mission of the Institute includes:

• Providing education and training at undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels in these areas of critical needs and with potential for tremendous growth.

• Enhancing the capability of UB to substantially increase external support

• Producing leading edge technologies that will enable UB to stimulate the creation of regional business.

• Developing strong University-Industry partnerships.