Richardson, TX — STARTechSM, a Texas-based technology business development center, announced the creation of the Photonics Development Center (PDC) with the goal of becoming a driving international force in an optical communications market expected to be worth $15 billion by 2004.

The unprecedented drive to create a world class center for photonics technology includes: The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD); industry leaders ADC Telecommunications, Alcatel, Fujitsu Network Communications, MCI WorldCom and Nortel Networks; and a high-profile group of venture capital firms now managing more than $3 billion in funds.

“We are building on our region’s worldwide reputation in telecommunications to advance relevant research, while preparing graduates in the engineering sciences for roles in photonics and fiber optics technology,” said Rob Q. Carruthers, vice president of STARTech. “Ultimately, we will provide the most fertile environment for the development of new concepts in optical technology. We will attract entrepreneurs seeking capital, counsel and access to the marketplace for their products.

“Our strength and resolve are reinforced by the commitment of UTD’s Schools of Management and Engineering and our ongoing relationship with 11 venture capital firms,” Carruthers emphasized. “We are ideally located in an area of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex known as the Telecom Corridor. More than 600 high tech firms employing about 80,000 workers are concentrated here,” he said. “According to Global Employers Network, an estimated 500 photonics-related positions are now open in the area.”

Photonics is the transmission of information via light, one example being fiber optics. High bandwidth requirements for Internet and multimedia applications are spurring demand for networking technologies capable of exceeding the old circuit switch paradigms for moving data, voice and images. Advances in this technology are facilitating the transport of information across a network at an exponentially faster rate than current and conventional methods.

Advancements in photonics are expected to impact telephone companies, Internet service providers, organizations, corporations and individuals worldwide by streamlining the movement – and thus the cost – of voice and data. Although estimates vary, depending on which photonics subgroups analysts choose to include in their estimates, The Red Herring magazine reported this past summer, “the overall market for optical communications is projected to be worth $15 billion by 2004.” Based on the 1995 market and various trade press sources, the market value for 1998 is estimated at $2 billion and expected to grow at an average 40% a year during the next five years.

“The University of Texas at Dallas is excited about becoming the leading knowledge resource for photonics and fiber optics,” said Cyrus Cantrell, Director of the Photonics Technology & Engineering Center at UTD ( http://www.photec.org ). “UTD, ranked among the top 100 four-year colleges in the nation (Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, September 1998), is committed to nurturing intellectual and management talent, as well as leading-edge research.”

“Additionally, we will begin visiting regional university campuses to recruit promising graduate students to study these subjects at UTD,” Cantrell noted.

“The list of photonics developers is growing rapidly,” added Matthew S. Blanton, President of STARTech. “In addition to the previously mentioned stakeholder firms, other major players in the industry include Ciena, Cisco, Ericsson, Hitachi, IBM, Lucent, NEC, Siemens and Texas Instruments.

“Many more emerging companies and promising products need both capital and counsel to find their rightful niche in the global marketplace,” Blanton emphasized. “The Center will issue a worldwide invitation for business plans that will qualify the top participants to access a $4 million seed fund. The money will initially capitalize the firm and help propel its technology to the marketplace.

“Of course, we want businesses we fund to locate to this area and to take advantage of the academic and personnel resources, as well as the synergy afforded by companies seeking the latest developments in photonics,” he said. “A prime example is Chorum Technologies, a developer of advanced networking products for optical networks, which recently moved from Boulder, Colo., to Richardson to take advantage of STARTech’s strengths. It was the third incubator company we funded.”