OPEN Optics and Photonics Education News
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Newsletter of the Optics and Photonics College Network |
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Happy Holiday Season!
LASER-TEC Builds Workgroup Addressing Gender Gap in Photonics Technologies
CCCC to Host Annual Advisory Board Meeting
LASER-TEC Co-PI Retires, New Co-PI Appointed
Supplemental Resources for Fundamentals of Light and Lasers, 3rd Edition
LASER-TEC Resources
Featured College: Springfield Technical Community College - Springfield, MA
OPCN Member Colleges
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Upcoming Events
12/15/2021
12:00 - 1:30 PM
Online
1/19/2022 - 1/21/2022
Tucson, AZ
01/22/2022 - 01/27/2022
San Francisco, CA
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Jobs for Graduating Students
Companies advertising openings on Indeed.com:
Electro-optics technicians: 506 nationwide
Companies:
ASML (90), Sig Sauer (26), BusPatrol (18), Power Grid Engineering, LLC (15), MARS (12), nLIGHT (11), KARL STORZ (10), Northrop Grumman (8), Panasonic Corporation of North America (7), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (7), Raytheon Intelligence & Space (6), Coherent, Inc. (6), Onto Innovation (6), Kodak (6), Energizer (6)
Location and number of jobs:
Livermore, CA (13), Fort Smith, AR (12), Jacksonville, AR (11), Wilton, CT (11), Exeter, NH (10), San Diego, CA (9), Tucson, AZ (9), Goleta, CA (8), New York, NY (8), Milpitas, CA (7), Santa Clara, CA (7), Las Vegas, NV (6), Los Angeles, CA (6), Portage, WI (6), Baltimore, MD (6)
NOTE: Very few companies use photonics as a job title for technicians. When searching, use the job title electro optics to get the best results.
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Community College Journal. Amplifying ATE. LASER-TEC creates hands-on Labs for Students to do at Home
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While Chrys is enjoying his well-deserved vacation, he asked me to share our warm wishes for the happiest of holiday seasons to all our LASER-TEC family.
We have been through so much in the last two years. Certainly, 2021 wasn't 2020, yet it still presented many challenges and unwelcomed implications. As we reflect on 2021, we recognize all wins–big and small–in our laser, optics, photonics, and fiber optics community. The photonics industry remained strong and continued hiring technicians at a high rate. Many colleges opened their doors to face-to-face sessions with more meaningful hands-on training.
We, at LASER-TEC, focused on multiple initiatives to sustain the photonics technology ecosystem. We developed and offered virtual professional development programs, conducted community outreach, and built bridges between colleges and industry. And at most importance to our program, we went full speed on developing open educational resources to help colleges and industry offer specialized programs.
In this December issue, you will find details about our latest initiative, Women in Photonics Technology– a community that provides meaningful support to female students and graduates of college photonics programs. Dr. Jim Pearson is retiring from his role as a Co-PI of LASER-TEC and passes the baton to the President of the Florida Photonics Cluster, Dr. Alexei Glebov. The Laser Technology Program at Central Carolina Community College has hosted its Advisory Board Meeting, and Gary Beasley shares about the proceedings on this event. With the closure of the OP-TEC website, we moved the supplemental resources (widgets and videos) for the Fundamentals of Light and Lasers textbook to the LASER-TEC website. Consider bookmarking this page as you prepare for your spring classes using this textbook.
We are wishing you the very happiest, warmest, and most peaceful of holidays and looking forward to a new 2022 year!
Natalia Chekhovskaya
Fort Pierce, FL
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LASER-TEC Builds Workgroup Addressing Gender Gap in Photonics Technologies |
It was no surprise that the pandemic negatively impacted the already challenging issue of the gender gap in college photonics programs throughout the nation. Some colleges shared zero female students enrolled in the 2021 academic year. Childcare and other depended-care, being burned out, not seeing the path forward, and many other issues kept many female students from starting their educational pursuit in tech.
We are moving the needle in solving this issue and asking all of our collaborators to contribute and participate. We are forming a workgroup, a community of WOMEN in PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY, primarily driven by current photonics students and recent graduates of OPCN colleges.
Spearheaded by 14 students from 7 colleges and many faculty and industry advisors, this group will dedicate its work to inspire girls and women to study and pursue a career in photonics technologies. This initiative will develop programs that support girls and women and their love and passion for photonics technologies. This community is a launch platform for success through coaching, networking, collaboration, and programs that foster personal and professional growth. Our virtual kick-off forum is scheduled for December 15th at 12:00 pm EST.
We ask that all OPCN colleges share this group with their female students and graduates. They will find the support and resources that they need. They will be the voices in shaping the workforce's profile in lasers, optics, photonics, and fiber optics technologies.
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Laser & Photonics Technology Program at CCCC to Host Annual Advisory Board Meeting |
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The Laser and Photonics Technology Program at Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) held its annual Advisory Committee meeting on Monday, December 6. The meeting was attended by over fifty advisors representing high schools, laser industries, a national research lab, university research professors, Harnett County Economic Development, a National Science Foundation Executive Director, and CCCC laser students, staff, and faculty. This diverse advisory committee intends to ensure that the program fully addresses these key areas: recruitment, preparation, and placement.
Moderated by a second-year student, the meeting included presentations by the advisory committee members and students. Advisors had an opportunity to present about their companies and interview students for current openings. The college also recognized eleven advisory committee members for their contribution to the development of the Laser Technology program. Read more about the meeting here. To learn more about the CCCC Laser and Photonics Technology program, visit www.cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/lasersphotonics/ or contact Gary Beasley at (910) 814-8828, gbeasley@cccc.edu.
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LASER-TEC Co-PI Retires, New Co-PI Appointed |
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A few weeks ago, LASER-TEC Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Jim Pearson announced his plans to retire in January 2022. Dr. Alexei Glebov, the President of Florida Photonics Cluster, will assume his leadership role as a Co-PI of LASER-TEC and help the Center develop and grow industry partnerships.
As an Executive Director of the Florida Photonics Cluster and a special Consultant at CREOL, UCF, a former Executive Director of SPIE and OSA, Jim has been essential in forming LASER-TEC’s wide network of industry partners. Thanks to Jim’s efforts, our current network consists of almost 200 companies throughout the U.S. We interviewed Jim in 2018 to learn about his impact on the development of laser technology. You can read the article on pg. 30-33 of this LIA Today issue.
Jim shared his big plans to spend more time with his family. His grandkids are now 12 and 15 years old and are very active in basketball and baseball. Together with his wife Nanci, he plans to explore new places and pledged to go to the gym to work out and stay physically fit for as long as possible.
Please join us in wishing Jim a joyful retirement filled with fun times with his friends and family.
Dr. Alexei Glebov currently serves as President and Chair of the Board of Directors at Florida Photonics Cluster. Dr. Glebov is President and General Manager of OptiGrate Corp, an IPG Photonics Company. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Goettingen, Germany, and an M.S. degree from the University of St. Petersburg, Russia.
Glebov started his industry career in the science division of Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies. In 2000, he relocated to Silicon Valley to take a position at Fujitsu and later, Finisar where he led the development of photonics and optoelectronics technologies for next generations data and telecommunication products. In 2008, Alexei joined OptiGrate Corp in Orlando, FL, as CEO and President. Under Alexei’s leadership, the company became a prominent optical component manufacturer with more than 600 customers across six continents. In 2017, IPG Photonics, the market leader in high-power fiber lasers, acquired OptiGrate Corp.
Alexei holds over 30 U.S. patents and has over 100 publications in technical books, journals, and conference proceedings. He is a frequent invited lecturer, and editor of numerous proceedings bands, chairs conferences, and symposiums. He sits on executive, organizing, and program committees for major photonics, laser, and electro-optics conferences and trade shows. Alexei is a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics; he serves on the Board of Directors of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Research Consortium, as well as on the Industrial Advisory Boards of the School of Materials Science and Engineering and the School of Optics at the University of Central Florida.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Glebov to the LASER-TEC family.
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Supplemental Resources for Fundamentals of Light and Lasers, 3rd Edition
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In recent months, many of you have reached out to us about supplemental resources for the textbook Fundamentals of Light and Lasers. We have started working on the fourth edition, and it will take us a few months to complete it. Meanwhile, please note, that with the closure of OP-TEC’s website, we moved and housed the widgets and videos referenced in the book onto LASER-TEC's website.
The book can is available as an Open Educational Resource and can be directly downloaded here. The widgets and videos can be accessed here.
If you need any instructor supplemental resources (test-bank, keys, students self-assessment, PowerPoint Slides), send a request to info@laser-tec.org using your work email account and verify your educator status.
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As a resource center, LASER-TEC develops, maintains, and houses a library of resources to help educational institutions and training programs incorporate lasers, optics, photonics, and fiber optics technologies into their programs. LASER-TEC builds on and provides access to two decades of knowledge and expertise in developing the photonics technical workforce.
Our website contains textbooks, educational modules, laboratory manuals, teacher's guides, informational and outreach materials. In addition to our resources, we gather and systemize external collections that support photonics education and training. K-12 and college students, graduates, parents, educators, industry, career changers, and military can find relevant resources to help better understand the state of the workforce, get answers and find resources to achieve their goals.
LASER-TEC also offers opportunities to increase the technical knowledge and hands-on skills in these emerging technologies through professional development courses and workshops. We welcome everyone to visit our website and learn more about what LASER-TEC can offer you.
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Featured College: Springfield Technical Community College - Springfield, MA |
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STCC’s Associate of Science Degree and One-Year Certificate program in Optics and Photonics Technology prepare engineering technicians with the knowledge and skills of lasers, optics, and electronics needed to design, test, and maintain complex optical and photonic systems. Graduates work side-by-side with engineers and scientists involved with cutting-edge applications in a wide variety of highly technical applications including laser materials processing, fiber optic communications, precision optical manufacturing & metrology, aerospace & defense, homeland security, medical device fabrication, nanotechnology, integrated photonic devices, and many others. As the only program of its kind in New England, STCC’s Optics and Photonics Technology graduates are highly sought by industry and have enjoyed excellent job placement and salaries since 1976. Companies that hire STCC graduates include MIT Lincoln Labs, Northrop-Grumman, Coherent Laser, Lumentum, Trumpf Laser, OFS Fiber, IPG Photonics, Convergent Photonics, Viavi, II-VI Corp., L3, Zygo, and many more. |
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Associate of Science Degree and One-year Certificate Programs in Optics and Photonics Technology |
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One and two-year programs with strong interdisciplinary core curriculum provide extensive hands-on training in state-of-the-art optics and photonics labs. The one-year certificate program, which serves as the first year of the Associate Degree program, provides students with extensive theoretical and hands-on training in lasers and laser systems, fiber optics, geometric optics, electronics, SolidWorks and manufacturing essentials. The Associate degree program builds on the certificate program by providing additional advanced coursework in industrial laser applications, wave optics, advanced topics and a year-long senior capstone project. The curriculum is heavily project- and problem-based and the majority of students are afforded paid internship opportunities with local laser and optics companies. |
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Skills of AS degree graduates: |
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- Align, clean, build and test complex optical systems
- Strip, cleave, clean and align multimode, singlemode, and dual-clad fiber
- Calculate and measure fiber optic power loss in decibels and power in dBm
- Terminate and test fiber optic cables for connector and insertion loss.
- Operate OTDRs, fusion splicers, optical spectrum analyzers, fiber inspection microscopes and fiber optic loss test sets.
- Identify fiber loss mechanisms and create fiber optic power budgets.
- Align, operate and characterize of LEDs, laser diodes, and photodetectors.
- Operate, test and troubleshoot erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA), wavelength-division multiplexers, add/drop multiplexers, circulators, thin-film filters, and fiber-Bragg gratings
- Design, build and test electronic circuits and devices
- Use oscilloscopes, multimeters, signal generators, spectrum analyzers and laboratory power supplies
- Apply electrical and laser safety standards and practices
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- Operate, test and maintain Ytterbium-doped and Erbium-doped fiber lasers
- Operate, test and maintain CO2, Argon-Krypton, and HeNe gas lasers
- Use a laser power and energy meters to measure the output power and energy of a laser
- Use a laser beam profiler to measure the spatial output characteristics of a laser
- Use an optical spectrum analyzer to measure the temporal output characteristics of a laser
- Test, maintain and troubleshoot basic laser components
- Produce linearly and circularly polarized light
- Construct and align Michelson, Twyman-Green and Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
- Use low and high power CO2 lasers for materials processing of metals, plastic and organic materials
- Use low and high power Ytterbium fiber lasers for materials processing metals
- Align and operate a Zygo interferometer for precision optical metrology
- Assemble, solder, test and troubleshoot electronic printed circuit boards
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Certificate (One-year)
Optics and Photonics Technology
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Contact Information
Name: Dr. Nicholas Massa
Telephone: (413) 755-4579
Address: 1 Armory Square, Springfield, MA 01102
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How can I recruit from this college?
Come to our college to present your company and employment opportunities to our students. We will make available, free of charge, a private room to interview interested students. Please contact the person below to make arrangements for a recruiting visit. Graduates are available every December and May.
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OPCN Member Colleges
The Optics and Photonics College Network (OPCN) is an association of postsecondary photonics technician educators operated by LASER-TEC. To learn more about the OPCN and to view the list of member institutions, please visit the LASER-TEC college network page.
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Join the Conversation
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the OPEN newsletter. Do you have information that you would like to share with our readers? We will be happy to publish it for you. Please contact us at info@laser-tec.org or call (772) 462-7295.
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OPEN is published by the LASER-TEC Center for Laser and Fiber Optics Education |
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-2000166. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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