Bridgewater State University (BSU) has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the Massachusetts Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) to fund capital equipment for the university’s Laboratory for Education and Application Prototypes (LEAP). The investment will expand the Visible Spectrum Characterization and Packaging Hub (VISPACK) within LEAP.
The new equipment, supported by the NEMC, is intended to train undergraduate students on industry standards for reliable packaging and testing required for prototypes in photonics technology and quantum computing. VISPACK will feature advanced materials characterization equipment, giving undergraduates access to hands-on experiments with superconductivity and magnetism typically reserved for graduate-level research.
BSU offers the state’s only public Photonics and Optical Engineering bachelor’s degree program, positioning the university as a driver of the technical workforce in Massachusetts. The development of VISPACK is part of a broader effort to create packaging for new prototypes from labs across the country, strengthening the regional photonics ecosystem.
Read the full announcement here.
November 18, 2025
