Lab for Education & Application Prototypes | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) have partnered together to establish the Lab for Education & Application Prototypes (LEAP @ WPI/QCC), which is located at WPI's Gateway Park in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a part of the national American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) and funded through the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), the LEAP @ WPI/QCC will support the integrated photonics manufacturing sector in central Massachusetts. Namely, LEAP @ WPI/QCC houses state-of-the art equipment and facilities that will help prototype these world-changing integrated photonic devices, as well as develop the workforce needed to manufacture them.

Offering equipment, space, and expertise, LEAP’s dedicated area in WPI’s Gateway Park serves as an innovation sandbox where researchers have the tools needed to push the boundaries of science, business partnerships bring ideas to market, and educators prepare a technical workforce ready to scale up the innovative materials as these developing technologies progress.

Are you looking to engage with LEAP?

LEAP @ WPI/QCC is actively supporting the growth of the integrated photonics rapid prototyping and manufacturing sector in Central Massachusetts. This includes:

Usage of laboratory and cleanroom facilities
Opportunities to engage with experts at the forefront of integrated photonics and related technology sectors
New distribution channels to promote company products and services
Access to student talent (AS/BS/MS/Ph.D.) to fulfill hiring needs and for potential project collaboration

Learn more about what capabilities and areas of expertise are located at LEAP. The facility is housed at Gateway II, next to the Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at 50 Prescott Street.

Contact LEAP

A Lab for Education

WPI's long-standing collaborations with industry and QCC's trusted history of workforce development put LEAP @ WPI/QCC in a unique position to reinvigorate the integrated photonics workforce and build a pipeline.

About LEAP

Application Protoype

The co-location of faculty from fundamental and applied disciplines embody that motto and enable LEAP @ WPI/QCC to produce protoypes of integrated photonic devices that will meet the needs of both industry and society.

The Facilities

Questions & Answers

Douglas Petkie, head of WPI's Department of Physics, describes the promise of integrated photonics and how the partnership between WPI and QCC will strengthen the industry in Central Massachusetts.

LEAP Q&A

From the WPI Journal

Lab for Education & Application Prototypes @WPI/QCC

LEAP@WPI/QCC advances photonics possibilities.