U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, DC  20549

                                    FORM 3

                                 OMB APPROVAL
                            OMB Number:  3235-0104
                         Expires:  September 30, 1998
               Estimated average burden hours per response:  0.5

            INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

        Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 
       of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act
        of 1935 or Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940


 1.  Name and Address of Reporting Person*
     Last, First, Middle:  Russell, Dr. Thomas J. (Trustee, The
     AER 1997 Trust)

     Street:  c/o JLMP, 650 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
     City, State, Zip:  New York, New York 10019
 2.  Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year):  3/6/97

 3.  IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person
     (Voluntary)
 4.  Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol:  EMCORE
     Corporation (EMKR)

 5.  Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all
     applicable)

     ( X ) Director    ( x ) 10% Owner    
     (   ) Officer (give title below)   
     (   ) Other (specify below)
 6.  If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)

 7.  Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)
     ( x ) Form filed by One Reporting Person
     (   ) Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
*     If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction
      5(b)(v).

TABLE I -- NON-DERIVATIVE SECURITIES BENEFICIALLY OWNED 1. Title of Security 2. Amount of Securities 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) (Instr. 4) Beneficially Owned or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4) (Instr. 5) (1) Common Stock 1,621,558 I TABLE I -- CONTINUED 1. Title of Security 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) (Instr. 5) (1) Common Stock As trustee of indirect owner, The AER 1997 Trust, a member of direct owner, Jesup & Lamont Merchant Partners, L.L.C.
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
TABLE II -- DERIVATIVE SECURITIES BENEFICIALLY OWNED (E.G., PUTS, CALLS, WARRANTS, OPTIONS, CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES) 1. Title of Derivative 2. Date Exercisable 3. Title and Amount of Securities Security and Expiration Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4) Date (Instr. 4) (Month/Day/Year) Date Expiration Amount or Exercisable Date Number Title of Shares (1) Common Stock Warrants (right Immed. 5/01/01 Common Stock 1,827,967 to buy) (2) Common Stock Warrants (right Immed. 9/01/01 Common Stock 245,098 to buy) (3) Common Stock Warrants (right 5/06/97 9/01/01 Common Stock 980,392 to buy) TABLE II -- CONTINUED 1. Title of Derivative 4. Conversion 5. Ownership 6. Nature of Security or Form Indirect (Instr. 4) Exercise of Derivative Beneficial Price of Security: Ownership Derivative Direct (D) or (Instr. 5) Security Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) (1) Common Stock Warrants (right $4.08 I As trustee of indirect to buy) owner, The AER 1997 Trust, a member of direct owner, Jesup & Lamont Merchant Partners, L.L.C. (2) Common Stock Warrants (right $10.20 I As trustee of indirect to buy) owner, The AER 1997 Trust, a member of direct owner, Jesup & Lamont Merchant Partners, L.L.C. (3) Common Stock Warrants (right $10.20 I As trustee of indirect to buy) owner, The AER 1997 Trust, a member of direct owner, Jesup & Lamont Merchant Partners, L.L.C.
Explanation of Responses: /s/ Thomas J. Russell March 16, 1997 Title: Trustee Date **Signature of Reporting Person ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB number.