OPEN Optics and Photonics Education News
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Newsletter of the Optics and Photonics College Network |
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Upcoming Events
From the Executive Director
James Webb Telescope Continues to Stun Us
CHIPS for America Act
STEM Programs Struggle to Supply the "Endless Demand" for Photonics Talent
Update on the Women in Photonics Technologies Workgroup Initiative
Jenoptik Supports Indian River State College Students with Scholarships
Supplemental Open Educational Resources for your Photonics Courses
Featured College: Cañada College - Redwood City, CA
OPCN Member Colleges
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Upcoming Events
09/21/2022
Washington, DC
09/21/2022 - 09/23/2022
Concord/Kannapolis, NC
10/26/2022 - 10/28/2022
Washington, DC
01/28/2023 - 02/02/2023
San Francisco, CA
05/15/2023 - 05/18/2023
Cocoa Beach, FL
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Jobs for Graduating Students
Companies contacting LASER-TEC for technicians:
Avo Photonics
Electronics Technician
Jenoptik Optical Systems
Optical Systems Engineer
Laser Systems Engineer II
NUBURU
Laser Technician
Companies advertising openings on Indeed.com:
Electro-optics technicians: 446 nationwide
Companies:
Sig Sauer (38), US Veterans Health Administration (19), Coherent, Inc. (15), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (15), L3Harris Technologies (12), ASML (9), Northrop Grumman (8), Cigna (8), MKS Instruments, Inc. (7), Veterans Prime, Inc. (7), CACI (7), Qualus (6), BOEING (6), Reliance Test & Technology (6), Raytheon Intelligence & Space (6)
Location and number of jobs:
Jacksonville, AR (16), Livermore, CA (12), Santa Clara, CA (12), San Diego, CA (12), Newington, NH (9), Albuquerque, NM (8), Exeter, NH (8), Goleta, CA (7), Bedford, NH (6), Wilton, CT (6), Eglin AFB, FL (6), Mercury, NV (5), Bloomington, MN (5), San Jose, CA (5), Devens, MA (5)
Source:
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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From the Executive Director |
The fall 2022 semester brought students back on campus as the pandemic slowly subsided. The 44 members of our Optics and Photonics College Network report mixed results when it comes to enrollment figures. Some colleges report a slight increase in enrollment, while others report a decrease. It will probably take another full academic year until things are back to normal.
We have a variety of interesting articles in this issue: an update on the James Webb telescope, the CHIPS and Science Act, the ever-increasing demand for laser-optics technicians by the U.S. and global photonics industry, an update on the “Women in Photonics Technologies Workgroup,” the newly established scholarship program at Indian River State College funded by Jenoptik Optical Systems, and much more. Also, don’t forget the extensive collection of OER photonics books, lab manuals, educational kits, and assistance we can provide to help you expand, improve, or update your optics and photonics programs at laser-tec.org/resources.
We welcome the 44th college in our network: Cañada College - Redwood City, CA, led by Dr. Ramakrishnan Kalyanaraman. Please see the feature article at the end of the newsletter.
Looking forward to cooler temperatures and the fall Equinox on September 22.
Chrys Panayiotou
Fort Pierce, Florida
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James Webb Telescope Continues to Stun Us |
This has been one big summer for the Webb, the world’s largest and most powerful telescope. The pace was set on July 12th when its first full-color images and spectroscopic data were released, and not one week has passed without another stunning discovery of our universe. We spend our summer following NASA’s releases of spectacular images of distant galaxies, nebulas, and planets of our solar system. The most recent direct image of a planet outside of the Solar System demonstrated an extraordinary infrared gaze of the telescope that can capture the most distant worlds.
The $10 billion James Webb telescope, an infrared space observatory the size of a tennis court, is a technological and engineering marvel. It is undoubtedly a success story for optics and photonics.
Here are some helpful YouTube videos that you can use for informational and outreach events:
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The pro-science, bipartisan act Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America was signed by President Biden in August 2022. This act will boost research, development, and workforce growth across many enabling sciences and technologies, including optics and photonics.
From the National Photonics Initiative press release, The CHIPS Act provides $52 billion focused on establishing investments and incentives to support U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, supply chain security, and workforce development. The science portions of the bill include authorizing increased funding levels for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Science Foundation (NSF), and establishing support for U.S.-based manufacturing in advanced technology sectors.
Additionally, the CHIPS and Science Act directs the Department of Commerce to establish 20 geographically distributed “regional technology hubs” focusing on technology development, job creation, and expansion of U.S. innovation capacity. The legislation also includes an authorization for establishing a high-intensity laser research initiative to advance laser technologies relevant to future facility needs in discovery science and to support a user network of academic and national laboratory high-intensity laser facilities. In addition, the legislation authorizes funding for STEM education, including scholarships, fellowships, and traineeships.
Details here:
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STEM Programs Struggle to Satisfy the “Endless Demand” for Photonics Talent |
In the August issue of Photonics Spectra, James Schlett explored the current and future states of photonics and optics education. In his article STEM Programs Struggle to Satisfy the “Endless Demand” for Photonics Talent, he interviewed LASER-TEC Co-PI Natalia Chekhovskaya and other professionals in optics and photonics workforce development. Among multiple topics explored by the author were optics and photonics skills currently in demand, academic pathways for careers in these technologies, the state of college photonics programs across the U.S., and their strengths and challenges. Read the full article here.
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Update on the Women in Photonics Technologies Workgroup Initiative |
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Members of LASER-TEC’s Women in Photonics Technologies (WiPT) network gathered for a quarterly virtual forum on September 7th, 2022. Among many initiatives, the platform provides a setting for live and in-depth discussions with established professionals. During the September event, we spotlighted the Engineering Design Manager of Edmund Optics, Katie Schwertz. In her very informative presentation, “Tips for Career Success in Optics and Photonics,” Katie shared her academic and professional paths in the field and her milestones. Katie brought her insight on “do’s” and “don’t do’s” while engineering the path to success. The recording of the forum can be accessed on the WiPT webpage.
The following forum is scheduled for Friday, December 9th, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. The focus of the December forum will be on building professional portfolios, resumes, tips for job search, and interviews. Register here.
The first episode of “LightTalks”—a series of brief video interviews with graduates of two-year colleges—has been uploaded onto the website. The guest of the kickoff interview was Lisa Burrows, the Laser and Alignment Systems Engineering Work Center Supervisor at the National Ignition Facility Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA. The podcasts are fully developed and produced by LASER-TEC graduates Andrea Romig and Cierstynn Welcher. We encourage you to visit the page and watch the episode.
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Jenoptik Supports Indian River State College Students with Scholarships |
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Jenoptik Optical Systems offered to support two full scholarships for Indian River State College Electronics Engineering Technology students pursuing photonics. “Jenoptik is a strong supporter of the Laser Photonics track of the Electronics Engineering Technology AS Degree Program at IRSC,” says Jay Kumler, President of JENOPTIK Optical Systems, LLC. “We look forward to meeting the students selected for this scholarship.” Read the press release here. |
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Supplemental Open Educational Resources for your Photonics Courses |
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We continue to share open educational resources that supplement two-year college photonics and optics curriculum.
The photonics.com educational library contains lots of topics introduced in the associate-level curriculum, which are neatly organized by subject with the powerful searching tool. Faculty can find complementary resources in optics and imaging, sensors and detectors, test and measurement, fiber optics and communication, spectroscopy, etc.
PDF Drive is a free search engine that allows you to search, preview, and download millions of PDF files to your devices. Their crawlers constantly scan the World Wide Web to add PDF files to its database. Searching for photonics and optics resources is better accomplished by the direct search. Type in a keyword in the search field to find lots of free textbooks, workbooks, handbooks, lab manuals, and more.
The references provided are for information purposes only; LASER-TEC does not directly or indirectly endorse the products or services of these companies.
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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: Cañada College - Redwood City, CA |
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The Photonics and Laser Technology Program at Cañada College is offered by the Department of Engineering within the Division of Science, with an advisory board consisting of Silicon Valley optics, photonics, and laser Industry leaders.
Photonics and Laser Technology Program, PALT.
Cañada College offers two Photonics and Laser Technology certifications to prepare students to work in various sectors, from telecommunications to health care to aerospace, that apply light and lasers in different forms. The program is designed for high-school graduates and has no prerequisites. It provides the foundational knowledge and hands-on skills in optics and lasers you’ll need for entry-level, career-track jobs in this high-growth sector. Students will also have opportunities to intern during the program with partners like Coherent, Inc. Students can choose to complete the PALT Certificate and three additional stackable courses to complete the PALT Advanced Certificate.
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Skills and experiences of graduates: |
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- Apply fundamental knowledge to construct, measure, and analyze a variety of modern optical and photonic devices and systems
- Work with microscopes, telescopes, lasers, coatings, and optical fibers
- Use of commercial computer software technology to design and analyze optical systems.
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- Teamworking skills
- Students will be required to have a lab book where they clearly describe the problem statement, experimental set-up, and lab work results
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Contact Information
Name: Ramakrishnan Kalyanaraman
Telephone: (650) 306-3196
Address: Cañada College, Science and Technology, BLDG 16-205, 4200 Farm Hill Blvd., Redwood City, CA 94061
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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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