ALBANY - Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday announced that one of his top aides will head a seven-member board to help oversee a $600 million photonics center in Rochester.

Andrew Kennedy, Cuomo’s deputy director of state operations, will be the chairman of the board of officers for the National Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Integrated Photonics.

Cuomo has three appointees on the board to help guide where investments into the center will go. The state is putting up $250 million for the project, and the federal Department of Defense is contributing $110 million, with the rest coming from private companies.

“The Photonics Institute is going to redefine the local economy for generations — and this board of officers will play a pivotal role in guiding that change day in and day out,” Cuomo said in a statement.

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Joseph Spector, @GannettAlbany10:27 p.m. EDT October 30, 2015