Newsroom
Resulting collaboration augments research programs in microsystems engineering
FOR RELEASE Tuesday, April 26, 2005
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Bausch & Lomb enhanced its longstanding partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology today by announcing that the Bausch & Lomb Foundation is committing $2.5 million dollars to fund the Bausch & Lomb Endowed Chair in Microsystems Engineering, based in RIT's Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
In addition, the Company and RIT will collaborate on the development of several research programs that could involve additional funding of $2.5 million from the eye health company over the next five years. The goal of the research being considered is to develop potential therapeutic and diagnostic technology to address ocular diseases and conditions that impair vision.
Bausch & Lomb Chairman and CEO Ronald L. Zarrella shared the news at the Company's annual meeting, held this year on the RIT campus. Albert Simone, RIT president, and Harvey Palmer, engineering dean, joined Zarrella for the announcement.
"The endowment of the Bausch & Lomb professorship acknowledges the outstanding assets that RIT has already assembled in the field of microsystems engineering," stated Zarrella, "and recognizes RIT's potential to take these capabilities and resources to national-even global-preeminence in the field of nanotechnology, particularly as it relates to the eye."
RIT, with its renowned capabilities in photonics, optics, microfabrication of devices and engineering, and Bausch & Lomb, a world leader in eye health, will partner in the development of product innovations in vision care and correction.
Research projects under consideration include advanced microsystems and technologies to diagnose, monitor and treat eye disease; the development of bio-degradable devices for sustained drug delivery to the eye; and accommodating intraocular lenses to provide presbyopic vision correction for cataract surgery patients.
"I am particularly excited about the major impact this partnership will have in creating a key focus area within our Ph.D. program in microsystems engineering," explained Palmer. "It will aid the development of microsystems technologies for biomedical applications to enhance the quality of life for future generations."
The relationship between Bausch & Lomb and RIT dates back to 1885 when company co-founder Henry Lomb helped establish one of RIT's predecessors-the Mechanics Institute-to provide technical training for local workers, replacing the outdated apprentice system. Lomb later became the first president of the Institute's Board of Trustees.
"Bausch & Lomb has a history of coming through for RIT when the opportunity is presented," said Simone. "We are grateful for this gift and for the Company's steadfast support."
"The university is committed to attracting top-notch researchers who love to teach," the RIT president added. "This gift is a launching pad for discovery in an exciting new field because the funding will enable RIT to draw candidates to Rochester who would otherwise be at MIT, John Hopkins or any of several other leading research facilities."
With the counsel of scientists and researchers from Bausch & Lomb, RIT will begin recruiting a scholar to assume the Bausch & Lomb Chair in Microsystems Engineering. This individual will lead an interdisciplinary team of RIT faculty and students to develop initiatives consistent with the Company's research interests.
BACKGROUND
Bausch & Lomb is the eye health company, dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around the world. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas permeable contact lenses and lens care products, and ophthalmic surgical and pharmaceutical products. The Bausch & Lomb name is one of the best known and most respected healthcare brands in the world. Founded in 1853, the Company is headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. Bausch & Lomb's 2004 revenues were $2.2 billion; it employs approximately 12,400 people worldwide and its products are available in more than 100 countries.
Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging technology, fine and applied arts, and education of the deaf. More than 15,300 full- and part-time students are enrolled in RIT's 340 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.
For well over a decade, U.S. News and World Report has ranked RIT among the nation's leading comprehensive universities. The Princeton Review recognizes RIT as one of America's "Most Wired Campuses," and the university is also featured in The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Barron's Best Buys in Education.
Bausch & Lomb is the eye health company, dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around the world. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas permeable contact lenses and lens care products, and ophthalmic surgical and pharmaceutical products. The Bausch & Lomb name is one of the best known and most respected healthcare brands in the world. Founded in 1853, the Company is headquartered in Rochester, New York. Bausch & Lomb's 2004 revenues were $2.2 billion; it employs approximately 12,400 people worldwide and its products are available in more than 100 countries. More information about the Company can be found on the Bausch & Lomb Web site at www.bausch.com . Copyright Bausch & Lomb Incorporated.
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