NPI HELPS HOST MISSISSIPPI SENATOR ROGER WICKER AT OCEAN SPRINGS-BASED PFG PRECISION OPTICS

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The National Photonics Initiative, a broad-based collaborative alliance among industry, academia, and government to raise awareness of optics, photonics and quantum science and technology, helped host Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker at Ocean Springs-based PFG Precision Optics earlier this week. During the visit, Senator Wicker and his wife Gayle were able to see first-hand the operations of one of the highly regarded participants in the optics and photonics industry. During the site visit, he met with technicians, engineers, and management to learn about the manufacturing of high precision optical components, which PFG Precision Optics provides to the defense, semiconductor and medical industries as well as to scientists at universities and national laboratories around the country.

“It was a privilege to host Senator Wicker at PFG Optics today,” stated PFG Precision Optics President Travis Green. “We appreciate his interest in our company and the photonics industry. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase the impact that our optics technology has on our everyday lives.”

PFG Precision Optics has made high-quality, high-precision optics in the US for more than four decades. Example end-applications of its products include sighting, targeting and laser range-finding for the military; cataract surgery equipment; semiconductor wafer inspection; and many important spectroscopy and metrology applications. The company is a family-owned business in its fourth generation and abides by the values of quality, hard work, integrity, and respect.

“Cutting-edge technologies like photonics and optics are crucial to our national defense, economic innovation, and competitiveness,” Senator Wicker said. “I appreciated the chance to spend some time at PFG Precision Optics. Their products and skilled employees are laying the groundwork for America’s future, right here in Mississippi.”

Historically, the United States has been the world leader in deploying optics and photonics research to power cutting-edge technologies, but global competition has put our leadership position at risk, causing a substantial loss of global market share to overseas competitors as well as thousands of US jobs.

Through the National Photonics Initiative (NPI), PFG Precision Optics is working to raise awareness about photonics and unite industry, academia, and government experts to identify and advance areas of photonics critical to maintaining US competitiveness and national security: advancing manufacturing, communication and information technology, defense and national security, energy, and health and medicine. US investment in these photonics-driven fields will create jobs and grow our economy, protect and improve the lives of our people, and position the United States as a global technology leader.

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ABOUT PFG PRECISION OPTICS: US manufacturer of high precision optical components (UV thru mid-IR) with a multi-decade track record of reliably producing quality commercial and military optics. Capabilities include spherical – doublets/triplets - and flat optics - prisms, wedges, beamsplitters, polarizers, filters, and mirrors. Our in-house coating facility offers a wide variety of custom coatings, including high power laser coatings, ITO, and high durability ARs. Our first priority has always focused on advancing technical competence to provide superior optical products to our customers. For more information, visit https://PFGoptics.com.

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About the NPI: The National Photonics Initiative (NPI) is a collaborative alliance among industry, academia and government to raise awareness of photonics and the impact of photonics on our everyday lives; increase cooperation and coordination among US industry, government and academia to advance photonics-driven fields; and drive US funding and investment in areas of photonics critical to maintaining US economic competitiveness and national security. The initiative is being led by top scientific societies including the American Physical Society (APS), the IEEE Photonics Society, the Laser Institute of America (LIA), The Optical Society (OSA) and SPIE, the International Society for Optics and Photonics. For more information visit www.lightourfuture.org.