MT Photonics Industry Alliance

Montana Photonics Industry Alliance (MPIA)

If you use a cell phone camera, see drones in flight, or are amazed at the emergence of autonomous vehicles, you are watching photonics in action. Since 2013, Prospera has served as the fiscal agent for the Montana Photonics Industry Alliance (MPIA), a volunteer-run group composed of roughly 35 optics and photonics companies that employ over 800 people in the photonics industry in southwest Montana. These local companies are engaged in business around the world, serving high-tech industries in the public and private sectors. Today, MPIA is a high-functioning business cluster with a board of directors, professional trainings, and a well-established network business development ecosystem.

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The MPIA functions as a hub for Montana’s optics and photonics companies, entrepreneurs, laboratories, and universities to commercialize, grow, and sustain globally leading organizations that create high-quality jobs and economic opportunities in Montana.

Photonics companies use light, lasers, and optics technologies for their products and services. An emerging area of photonics is quantum materials and quantum computing. The MPIA was founded in 2013 after recognizing that Bozeman, Montana, was fast emerging as an epicenter for new technology companies. Montana State University’s Optical Technology Center (OpTeC) produced students who both started new photonics companies and served as a workforce pipeline.

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