OPEN
Optics and Photonics Education News
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Newsletter of the Optics and Photonics College Network
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Laser Pioneer Bill Shiner Passes Away
From the Executive Director
Upcoming Events
Outreach Strategies During Stay-at-Home Orders that Work
Jobs for Graduating Students
Seeing a Path from Schooling to Careers
KENTEK Offers Free Laser Safety Courses
LASER-TEC Adopts Virtual Format for Summer Programs
Virtual Content and Engagement from the Optical Society of America
HI-TEC 2020 Update
LASER-TEC Resources
Featured College: Spokane Community College - Spokane, WA
OPCN Member Colleges
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Upcoming Events
06/15/20 - 07/31/20
Online
07/29/20 - 07/30/20
Online
08/10/20 - 08/12/20
Miramar Beach, FL
08/23/20 - 08/27/20
San Diego, CA
10/21/20 - 10/23/20
Washington, DC
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Jobs for Graduating Students
Companies contacting
LASER-TEC for technicians:
Panasonic Corporation
Laser Technician openings
CO2 and Rebuild Manager
Coherent
Fiber Laser Manufacturing Tech openings
Product Line Manager
Brimose Corp of America
Optical technician openings - fiber coupling laser
Account Manager
Companies advertising openings on Indeed.com:
Electro optics technicians:
191 nationwide
Companies:
Reliance Test & Technology (16), Coherent, Inc.
(10),
Northrup Grumman (10), Applied Materials (9), Leonardo DRS (8), IPG Photonics Corporation (6), Veterans Prime, Inc. (5), Power Grid Engineering, LLC (4), ASML (4), Department of Veterans Affairs (4), General Dynamics Information Technology (4), MKS Instruments (4), Alion Science and Technology (4), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (4), Moore Nanotechnology Systems, LLC (4)
Location and number of jobs:
Eglin AFB, FL (16), Santa Clara, CA (11), Melbourne, FL (9), Livermore, CA (6), Boulder, CO (5), Danbury, CT (4), San Diego, CA (4), Greenbelt, MD (4), Hampton, VA (4), Swanzey, NH (4), Oxford, MA (4), Wilton, CT (4), East Granby, CT (3), Vancouver, WA (3), Fort Lewis, WA (3)
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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The Old Order Changeth: Bill Shiner Passes Away
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On May 7
th
, we said goodbye to our dear friend, great advocate and supporter, Bill Shiner.
A pioneer of laser technology, Bill made a tremendous contribution to its growth and development. He is credited with several patents in laser technology dating back to 1969 and as recently as 2015.
During his latest assignment as a vice president of Industrial Laser Sales of IPG Photonics, he played a key role in the company’s climb from $30 million in sales to well over $1 billion, bringing the company to the top of the industrial laser market. He was a founding member of the Laser Institute of America serving on its board for over 40 years and as its president in 2007. Despite his success, Bill was an incredibly humble man who always treasured his time with his family more than anything.
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From the Executive Director
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I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and in good spirits.
During the month of May, the LASER-TEC team kept building and shipping the Light and Optics Experiment Kits (LOEK) to more laser/photonics students and professors throughout the country. Students and instructors are sending us notes of thanks and appreciation. We will continue building and shipping kits while students and colleges operate remotely. So please
contact us
if you need any assistance as you are scheduling the fall 2020 semester classes.
Last month we lost Bill Shiner, a great friend and supporter of LASER-TEC. Bill was, until recently, the Vice President of Marketing for IPG Photonics, the company that advanced and elevated the fiber laser into the workhorse it has become in industrial materials processing. Despite his very busy schedule, Bill always supported technician education never forgetting that he started at a community college himself. In November of 2016, Bill and I conducted a
workshop in Alabama
for instructors of CARCAM (Consortium for Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Manufacturing) on the use of fiber lasers in automotive manufacturing. For more information on Bill and his accomplishments please read
this article
in Industrial Laser Solutions.
In this issue, we also have a great article by Gary Beasley on outreach strategies during stay-at-home orders that work. Also, don’t miss Natalia’s article “From schooling to careers” published in BioPhotonics. Lastly, Kentek has graciously made available free laser safety training online for college instructors. Take a look at the details in the article that follows and register to reserve your seat.
Let’s continue helping each other during these difficult times and share lessons learned as we work through this pandemic. Feel free to
contact me
if LASER-TEC can assist you in any way or if you have suggestions for other projects.
Best wishes for health and safety,
Chrys
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Outreach Strategies During Stay-at-Home Orders that Work
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As lead instructor for the laser program at Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) in Lillington, North Carolina, we recruit for the program all year long, and especially during the spring semester, when many high school seniors are deciding what to do after graduation. The spring of 2020 was not any different. We had high school career fairs scheduled, prospective student program tours planned, recruiting trips to high school STEM classes scheduled, and a weekend laser workshop lined up. Then COVID-19 hit and wrecked all of our plans. In fact, we were scrambling just to get our current seated classes up and virtually running.
Following the cancellation of the Harnett County high school career fairs (due to COVID-19), Ms. Lindsey Spivey Hardee
,
Harnett County Schools Career & Technical Education School-to-Career Coordinator, reached out and offered to help get recruiting material to CTE students. Lindsey said, “If your college has any digital promotions, we can share with our students. We (HCS CTE) have created a folder students can access at home, which will include career development resources. Videos will only be viewable by our students for professional, educational use.”
With the help of two current first year CCCC laser program students, we decided to take advantage of Ms. Hardee’s offer. At this point, we were into the beginning of May. Realizing that COVID would probably not go away quickly, and we would not be able to proceed with our normal face-to-face recruiting activities, we also decided to establish a strong social media recruiting strategy.
Our strategy consisted of four main approaches.
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Seeing a Path from Schooling to Careers
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Closing the gap in the qualified technical workforce is a major challenge for both academia and industry across all segments of photonics. Problems faced include the lack of student awareness due to incorrect perceptions about the field, the lack of clear steps and programs for those who switch careers, the lack of meaningful college-employer partnerships. Numerous state and federal programs have been developed to identify solutions, but there is still a lot of work to do. Read more in the
May/June issue
of BioPhotonics.
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KENTEK Offering Free Laser Safety Courses
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On June 11, Kentek Corporation announced that for the next 30 days they are offering two complimentary laser safety training courses in a convenient, online format.
Basics of Laser Safety
: Meets all basic laser safety training requirements and presents laser safety from the user’s point of view. After completing this course, the user will be ready to learn the specific information they will need to know about their laser and job situation.
Industrial Laser Safety
: This online course provides basic industrial laser safety training for users and laser maintenance personnel who may enter the Nominal Hazard Zone of a Class 3B or Class 4 industrial laser environment.
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LASER-TEC Adopts Virtual Format for Summer Programs
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Responding to the challenge of keeping students engaged and getting them interested and ready for STEM college programs, LASER-TEC, the Children Services Council of St. Lucie County, and Indian River State College have partnered to provide a summer-long opportunity for middle and high schoolers to explore the world of emerging technologies safely from home in an online Summer Learning Program.
Participating students will interact, collaborate, and connect with others as they learn about computer literacy, coding and artificial intelligence, modern electronics, photonics, robotics, automation, website development and design.
Each student will investigate light through demonstrations and experiments, create and program over 20 different fun projects using Arduino, and build several robotic systems.
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Virtual Content and Engagement from the Optical Society of America
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From virtual professional development lectures, expert opinions on advancing careers in optics, and exploratory educational tutorials, the Optical Society of America is providing many helpful virtual resources during these turbulent times. Visit the
OSA website
to browse upcoming and recorded events.
Our colleagues, Judy Donnelly and Nancy Magnani, hosted a series of very engaging video lectures called “Optics Magic” where they investigate the nature of light with tools and components that are readily available at home. This is a great resource for children, families, science teachers, and college faculty. Watch the
recorded lectures
on the OSA website.
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HI-TEC invites you to participate in its transformed online format, which will take place Wednesday, July 29 and Thursday, July 30, 2020 beginning at 12:00 pm EDT for approximately three hours each day. Registration is complimentary (courtesy of the National Science Foundation), but required to attend and gain access to HI-TEC 2020 materials.
- Keynote speakers and expert panels will discuss topics to support community response to the challenges of the pandemic.
- Education panels will discuss lessons learned and strategies and tools for remote teaching, engagement and learning.
- An employer panel will discuss changes to the workforce, hiring trends, and new opportunities / technologies that are emerging due to the pandemic.
HI-TEC will also showcase preconference, main conference, and poster sessions beginning July 29th in PDF, PowerPoint or video format. These will be available to registered participants for viewing for several months.
Please note that LASER-TEC's originally scheduled preconference workshops and sessions have been canceled, but will be made available in the form of PowerPoint presentations.
Register for the conference
here
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Whether you are looking for support with your college program's outreach, curriculum design, academic-business partnerships, or student placement, LASER-TEC has resources for you. Visit the Resources tab
on our website
to browse textbooks, kits, laboratory manuals, and informational and outreach materials. The current collection is comprised of both LASER-TEC and OP-TEC materials. Don't forget to check this page often, as we will constantly upload additional resources.
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Featured College: Spokane Community College - Spokane, WA
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Offers Associate in Applied Science Degree as an Electronics Engineering Technician. The program has four pathways: Applications, Avionics, Mechatronics, and Biomedical Equipment. In 2018, SCC added a Photonics Lecture and a Photonics Lab class to their Electronics Engineering Technician – AAS curriculum. These classes are based on the OP-TEC Fundamentals of Light and Lasers Course 1. The first cohort of this new curriculum graduated December 2019.
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Associate in Applied Science degree as an Electronics Engineering Technician
This lab intensive program provides practical, hands-on experience with a variety of equipment used in industry. Classes are designed to develop the skills necessary for the technician to help engineers develop new products and to evaluate, test, troubleshoot, and repair existing equipment.
Graduates find employment in a wide variety of industries including electronics equipment manufacturing, medical equipment manufacturing, the service industry, and hospitals.
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Skills of AAS degree graduates:
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- Ability to perform laboratory experiments and create projects using electronic breadboards, optical breadboards, 3D-PCB printing, IPC standard soldering, single board computers (Raspberry PI©), and embedded systems (Arduino©)
- Hands on experience with electronic test equipment including photometers, multi-meters, oscilloscopes, signal generators, and power supplies
- Practiced in aligning optical components
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- Understand the proper methods to handle, clean, and care for optical components
- Familiarity with industry grade optical components, laboratory mountings, and positioning equipment
- Document procedures and data using Microsoft Word© and Excel©
- Calculate expected results to compare with measured data
- Apply laser safety rules
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Photonics lab experiments cover topics such as:
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- Law or Reflection
- Speed of light in Optical Grade Plastic
- Snell’s Law
- Determining Wavelength
- Spectrum of Colored Light
- Using an Inexpensive Spectrometer
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- Optical Filters
- Prisms and Lenses
- Polarization
- Diffraction
- Interference
- Optical Alignment Techniques
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Contact Information
Name: Judy Irwin
Telephone: (509) 533-7133
Address:
1810 N Greene Street,
Spokane
,
WA
99217
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How can I recruit from this college?
Please contact the person above to arrange for a recruiting visit. Graduates are available every December.
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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
www.laser-tec.org/opcn
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Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who may find it's contents valuable.
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Join the Conversation
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the OPEN newsletter. We would really like to hear from you. If there is some subject that you would like us to discuss or look into, please let us know at
info@laser-tec.org
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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-1700352. 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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