The Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center was completed on schedule – 24 months after design began – and is ready to host new manufacturing technologies as the anchor of a 500-acre, master-planned site owned by Osceola County called NeoCity.

“This is a great day for Central Florida. Bringing together local and global partners isn’t always easy, but the power of partnership helps us achieve change that makes a difference. That’s what we celebrate today,”ĚýÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ PresidentĚýJohn C. Hitt said.

“We’ve brought together some of the best minds from research labs and manufacturing centers with future-focused government and industry leaders. The result – BRIDG – holds the promise of revolutionizing the smart sensor industry while driving economic development and innovation in our region.”

Leaders say the building’s dedication signals a new horizon for the region’s high-tech economy, and the site will be more than a traditional research park with its surrounding natural landscape, community connections and wide-ranging partnerships.

BRIDG, a consortium led by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, Osceola County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, offers partners and others the opportunity to share equipment and conduct research needed to profitably access the next-generation sensor economy – an area where Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ is positioned to lead the charge.

BRIDG (Bridging the Innovation to Development Gap) is an acronym that captures the central mission of the innovative technology collective.

“Just one year ago, NeoCity was an open field and today it is BRIDG’s new home,” said BRIDG CEO, Chester Kennedy. “We have a state-of-the-art facility to help us bring to light new and exciting ideas for our partners. We are thankful to Osceola County, the University ofĚýCentral Florida, and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council for their visionary leadership and invaluable support.ĚýOsceola County is becoming a hub for high-tech jobs and innovation, and it is amazing to witness this growth every day.”

The 109,000-square-foot facility will be one of the most advanced fabrication labs in the world. Since it launched in 2014, the consortium, formerly known as the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research (ICAMR), has provided a platform for advanced manufacturing development to “bridge the gap” between advanced research and cost-competitive manufacturing of new products tied to connected devices and the Internet of Things.

“This building puts us at the forefront of the next disruptive market explosion that will be semi-conductor based,” said Osceola Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington. “We are strategically positioned to capitalize on the collaboration between universities, the community and industry. The Osceola County Commission’s willingness to make a bold financial commitment, along with the vision and foresight to find great partners – starting with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and the Corridor –Ěýhas made it all possible.”

BRIDG’s partners now range from a Belgium-based leading international hub in nano-electronics and digital technology to a home-grown photonics and smart sensor developer. Other major partners include Harris Corporation, Tupperware Brands, Argonne National Laboratories, Kissimmee-based Photon-X, Florida International University, University of South Florida and University of Florida among others.

“The Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center is a testament to what can be accomplished when partners align for the greater good of a region and visionaries lead the way. Osceola County’s vision will change the future of this region as high wage, high skill job opportunities continue to grow benefitting the entire Corridor,”Ěýsaid Ed Schons, president of The Corridor.

Earlier today, Florida Governor Rick Scott vetoed nearly $500 million from the state budget. Included in those vetoes were funds for several Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ projects, including Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Downtown.

While we are disappointed, we are not giving up. And we’re thankful for the groundswell of support from local and state leaders who remain confident in our plans to build this campus.

Together with Valencia College and the City of Orlando, we will determine our next steps, then share them in the next several weeks.

With our partners — and the 150-plus members of our Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Downtown Task Force — we have planned a campus that will provide our community access to first-class education, prepare our workforce of tomorrow and invest in the transformational future of our city and the Parramore community.

Today, Gov. Scott also vetoed funding for:

— Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s for sensors in Osceola County, which is a partnership between educational institutions, industry and government;

— and, the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities, which would provide parents of students with intellectual disabilities with information about programs and opportunities throughout the state.

Despite the veto, our will still begin this fall on our main campus. This program will allow a select number of students to earn meaningful higher education credentials that will prepare them for more employment opportunities and fully participate in college life — living in dorms, joining clubs and making friends with their peers.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ projects approved in the state budget signed by Gov. Scott are:

— nearly $15 million in new funds based on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s academic performance, its students’ graduation and retention rates, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees awarded, among other metrics set by the Florida Board of Governors;

— and, $20 million for the Partnership Complex in the Central Florida Research Park, which will help to permanently house Department of Defense and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ simulation and training organizations, contributing to one of our state’s largest industries.

I echo President Hitt and many others at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ in our sincere appreciation for your support and the efforts of those across Central Florida to advance these projects. We know they are important to students, our economy and the community, and we will continue working on moving them forward.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ is a leader in this exciting field that studies light and all the things it can do from creating sensors that detect cancer without biopsies to creating ultrafast computer connections that could change how we communicate with each other.

Since Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ opened , its College of Optics & Photonics, in 1987 it has been making a name for itself in this pioneering area. That’s why last fall the university formed a consortium to compete for a focused on integrated photonics (or light-based) manufacturing, which if awarded could push its work forward even faster.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s team, which includes 68 industry and 24 academic partners including Georgia Tech, Clemson University, North Carolina – Charlotte and the universities of Alabama-Huntsville and Illinois, is one of three chosen by the Department of Defense as finalists for the award.

“Integrated photonics will help us move to the next generation of innovation,” said Winston Schoenfeld, leader of PRISM – the Photonics Research Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing coalition. PRISM has reach across the nation and is poised to position Central Florida as the leader in this new technology revolution.

PRISM is anchored by the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center, a state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing research facility already under construction in Osceola County.Ěý The center is focused on the next generation of universal smart sensors. The project has the support of various partners including Osceola, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council backed by $170 million. The commitment is indicative of strong regional investment in innovative infrastructure.

More than 40 U.S. House representatives and senators from across the South support PRISM’s bid for the federal funds.

“Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s proposal for a photonics research institute for sustainable manufacturing known as PRISM would allow the Department of Defense to utilize the expertise within the university’s renowned College of Optics & Photonics,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.Ěý “The research Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ is proposing would not only enhance the nation’s security and global competitiveness, it would be of great value to the Department of Defense and our nation as a whole.”

The possibilities are enormous. Optics and photonics is the science and technology of light: lasers, LEDs, LCDs, optical fibers, sensors and imaging systems for applications in industry, defense and medicine.

To see a video about Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and its expertise in this field, .

Even as Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ waits to see if it lands the federal money, its researchers in CREOL and in partnership with others across the university are making headlines for their cutting-edge work. Among the most recent breakthroughs:

That revolutionary high-tech change will occur at a new state-of-the-art manufacturing development center for the next generation of smart sensors, said Holladay, a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ director of Research and Commercialization.

“These are sensors that will have significantly better functionality and that can sense things we can’t measure today – or measure multiple things and analyze them to provide valuable information,” said Holladay, who is also the executive director of Operations and Technology Programs at the new International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research, the world’s first industry-led smart-sensor consortium.

The enterprise is housed at the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center, which was announced last year and is being built on property owned by the county and previously known as Judge Farms near Florida’s Turnpike and U.S. 192. The project is a partnership of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, Osceola County, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, University of Florida, University of South Florida, Florida International University and the State of Florida.

The 20-acre site will become the anchor operation for an eventual 350-acre high-tech campus.

Today, most sensors are more basic, he said, such as simply detecting and correcting an upside down image on a cell phone screen.

Smart sensors of the future will have more power and be more resistant to harsh environments, allowing them to redefine appliances, automobiles, agricultural equipment and other industries. They will not only be capable of measuring or sensing a multitude of parameters, but will be able to do self-analysis, self-calibrate or self-identify, and then communicate that information to the necessary source, such as a doctor. The technology is expected to be so sensitive that it can detect things beyond human capabilities and provide health care providers with new tools to fight cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions.

Before coming to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, Holladay spent more than three decades in the semiconductor industry, working in both manufacturing and research and development. Now he is leading the charge with the university partners to create what Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ President John C. Hitt said will be an economic game changer for the entire region.

The center is expected to have 250 high-tech jobs when it opens next year, and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission says the facility could attract up to 80,000 high-wage jobs in the years to come.

Osceola has agreed to invest $87 million for construction and equipment, Ěýfor a total contribution of nearly $138 million. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ is committed to provide $10 million from non-state and non-tuition sources to help build the center, and another $7 million for faculty hires. The university will lease the center for $1 a year and operate the 100,000-square-foot facility.

Another boost to the center could come later this year in the form of a $220 million federal initiative to build an Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ is leading a team of industry partners and four other universities to create that institute at the Osceola smart-sensor facility should it win the federal bid.

The institute would provide for testing, workforce development, assembly and other functions for the photonics industry. The Department of Defense is expected to award $110 million for the project later this year, to be matched by investment from institutions and industry.

The consortium is one of three selected by the Department of Defense to submit proposals. The other two groups chosen are the Research Foundation for the State University of New York and The University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute.

“Dr. Hitt’s goal is to be the leading industry partner, and this is a perfect linkage to that,” Holladay said. “This will enable a lot of other emerging technologies, and this is going to help mankind in a lot of areas.”

President John C. Hitt announced Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s decision to go after the federal money at today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the first-of-its-kind Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center in Osceola County. Hitt joined Osceola County Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins Jr., Commissioner Frank Attkisson and other dignitaries at the center site, located on 20 acres owned by Osceola County near the intersection of U.S. 192 and Florida’s Turnpike.

“Together, we are building a new catalyst for our region’s economy while positioning our state as a leader in the manufacturing of the future,” Hitt said.

Hawkins said: “The timing of this effort is perfect. It’s a testament to the hard work of all our partners who are here today and who have helped us be in a position to move forward on this project. As a lifelong Osceola resident and businessman, I’m elated about the opportunities that await us.”

The center, a partnership with Osceola County government, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council (The Corridor) and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, would house many of the research activities associated with the institute if Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s bid is successful.

The center is a 100,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing research facility set to open in 2016. Partners in the project aim to create the world’s first industry-led smart-sensor consortium. The facility will develop innovative manufacturing processes and materials to advance production of smart sensors. Sensors are expected to shape the future of automobiles, surgical devices, home appliances and much more.

Some smart sensors are already embedded in things we use every day, such as remote controls. There are other potential applications from detecting deadly carbon monoxide to showing a doctor how cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes affect the body.

Enterprise Florida, the University of Florida and the University of South Florida also are partners in the center’s initiative, a tangible example of what the White House has described as the future for manufacturing in this country.

President Barack Obama earlier this month announced the competition, signaling the White House’s support of investment in this area and the belief that photonics – a new technology that harnesses the power of light and lasersĚý– will be a cornerstone in manufacturing’s future. Manufacturing continues to be the bedrock of jobs in America and photonics manufacturing holds the promise of makingĚýAmerica a magnet for good, middle-class jobs.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s College of Optics & Photonics and its Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers, a recognized national leader in its field, is uniquely positioned to lead the effort, which will include partners from industry, universities, state colleges, localĚýgovernments and nonprofits.

“We are in full-court-press-mode to develop a proposal,” said MJ Soileau, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s vice president for Research & Commercialization.

The federal initiative aligns in many ways with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s strengths in integrated photonics manufacturing, a sign that the government picked up on measures proposed by CREOL in an earlier request for information by the Department of Defense, which would manage the national initiative, said Bahaa Saleh, dean of the College of Optics & Photonics.

Although a request for proposals is not expected until the end of the month, Saleh said he expects the creation of a photonics manufacturing center will remain in the solicitation.

The creation of a federal Photonics Manufacturing Institute for Manufacturing Innovation in Florida would greatly add to the roughly 30,000 photonics-related jobs in the state, said Alex Fong, president of the Florida Photonics Cluster. While a 2009 report by The Corridor and Florida Photonics Cluster put the gross regional product at $3.65 billion and sales of these companies at $7.27 billion, the national impact of the industry rises to more than $3 trillion.

While pursuing the federal money, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and its partners are not waiting to move forward with construction of the center.

As these innovations become ready for the marketplace, the center’s partners envision growth in high-wage jobs for Central Floridians. The White House announcement, on the heels of the center’s approval in June, shows Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and the Central Florida communityĚýare envisioning the future and making it happen today.

As leaders celebrated Thursday and talked about what tomorrow would bring, construction crews were turning earth and preparing the land for the new facility. The project is expected to cost about $270 million over five years and would become self-sufficient five years after becoming fully operational. Osceola County has committed to investing $61 million for design, construction and equipment costs associated with the facility in addition to the land. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ will lease the building for $1 a year for 30 years and will operate the center. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ is set to provide $10 million – from non-state and non-tuition sources – to help design and build the center and for start-up costs, as well as an additional $7 million for focused faculty hires.

The Corridor will contribute $1 million initially. The Corridor also will expand the scope of its signature Matching Grants Research Program at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, the University of South Florida and the University of Florida to include sensor-driven advanced manufacturing. Up to $5 million of matching funds will be available for research activities and the operation of the consortium over five years.

“From the outset it was clear that this partnership with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and Osceola County has the potential for a huge impact in terms of jobs and opportunity that will change our economic landscape, but little did we know it could happen this rapidly,” said Corridor president Randy Berridge.

The goal of the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center is to recruit or create the world’s first industry-led smart sensor consortium. Formed to make Florida a global leader in a rapidly growing industry, the center will be the home of research aimed at advancing technologies that will shape the future of automobiles, surgical devices, home appliances and a host of other devices.

As these innovations become ready for the marketplace, the center’s partners envision a growth in high-wage jobs for Central Floridians as existing companies expand and new companies move to the region to collaborate with the center’s researchers.

“This center holds great potential for becoming another economic game changer for our entire region – and the timing for such an endeavor could hardly be better,” said Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ President John C. Hitt.

Sensors allow us to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell beyond our capabilities. Sensors can detect things that we cannot, such as deadly carbon monoxide. They can show how diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease affect the human body, helping doctors provide more effective drug treatments.

The world smart sensors market is projected to reach $7.8 billion by next year, according to Global Industry Analysts Inc., and global demand is expected to increase dramatically in the years to come.

“We’ve asked ourselves for years what comes next after Medical City and it’s this infrastructure project,” said Rick Weddle, president and CEO of the Orlando Economic Development Commission – a partner in the new center — and current president of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation. “This is how the communities of the future are being built and this is what technology-led economic development is all about.”

The center will be built on 20 acres owned by Osceola County near the intersection of U.S. 192 and Florida’s Turnpike, across U.S. 192 from Osceola Heritage Park.

The Osceola County Commission on Monday evening approved a memorandum of understanding with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. Osceola County committed to investing $61 million for design, construction and equipment costs associated with the 100,000-square-foot center. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ will lease the building for $1 a year for 30 years and will operate the center.

“This is a historic day for Osceola County. Partnering with the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ as the home of a research facility of this significance ties into all the planning and work we’ve done to diversify our economy,” said Osceola Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins, Jr. “Creating these types of 21st Century jobs will make us a world leader in this coveted and competitive hi-tech field.”

The new partnership comes at a time when Florida continues to lose manufacturing jobs. A Brookings Institute report issued this month noted that Florida has lost 75,000 manufacturing jobs since 2007, and the state’s domestic and international trade deficit is growing. The same report said that for every four boxcarloads of goods brought into the state, only one carload is leaving with goods manufactured in Florida.

“We must change those numbers, and our dynamic partnership between Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ and Osceola County will help to make it happen,” Hitt said.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ researchers have developed sensors capable of a range of applications – from detecting hydrogen and specific chemicals in the air to reading oxygen in the blood – and are also creating the materials that will enable sensors to be integrated into ever-smaller computer chips.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ is set to provide $10 million – from non-state and non-tuition sources – to help design and build the center and for start-up costs, as well as an additional $7 million for focused faculty hires.

The Florida High Tech Corridor Council will contribute $1 million initially. The council also will expand the scope of its signature Matching Grants Research Program at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, the University of South Florida and the University of Florida to include Sensor-Driven Advanced Manufacturing. Up to $5 million of matching funds will be available for research activities and the operation of a consortium.

“Thanks to the forward-thinking leadership in Osceola County, this project will help create more opportunities for our entire region,” said Randy Berridge, president and CEO of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s connections with Osceola County include a shared campus with Valencia College on Denn John Lane, as well as business incubators in St. Cloud and Kissimmee. Osceola County also was one of the first partners to contribute to the development of the Medical City at Lake Nona.