11 June 1998: Corning Incorporated, the US producer of optical fibre, has become the first western company to open an independent laboratory in Russia to conduct research in the fields of optics and p…
11 June 1998: Corning Incorporated, the US producer of optical fibre, has become the first western company to open an independent laboratory in Russia to conduct research in the fields of optics and photonics which are increasingly used in telecommunication networks. The laboratory, located in St. Petersburg, will initially employ approximately 30 Russian scientists, all of whom formerly worked at the Vavilov State Optical Institute or the Institute of Silicate Chemistry, which are also located in St. Petersburg. “By integrating the St. Petersburg laboratory into our global research effort, we not only tap into extensive Russian expertise in optics and photonics, but strengthen our relationship with the scientific community in Russia,” said Roger G. Ackerman, Corning“s chairman and chief executive officer. Corning also has research contracts with the General Physics Institute and the Institute of Chemical Physics, both located in Moscow, where research is focused on the fields of fibre optics and photochemistry. The company has other laboratories in the US, France and Japan. Corning has increased its worldwide research, development and engineering budget by almost 60% in the past three years, and spent over US$ 250 million in 1997. The company is in the process of doubling the size of its main laboratory in Corning, New York, US. In addition to the St. Petersburg laboratory, Corning also has an equity venture in Russia, Samara Optical Cable Company, Ltd., which manufactures optical fibre cables for telecommunication applications.