Paper
9 December 2004 Technician and technologist photonics teaching: an Ontario success story
Jay Yatulis, Johann Beda, Peter J. Casey, Brahim Chebbi, Steve Finnagan, Treena Grevatt, Alexander McGlashan, Marc Nantel, Leo Tiberi
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Launched in 2001, the Ontario Photonics Education and Training project (PET) has established an completely new Photonics Engineering Technician (2 years) and Photonics Engineering Technologist (3 years) programs at Niagara and Algonquin Colleges. The programs have now completed a full academic cycle at both colleges. This paper will review the history of the program, its collaborators, and industry climate changes. This paper will present recruitment statistics, which will include percentage uptake, student retention, and profiles of the student group. The first year’s intake was characterized by high achieving 'early adopters', including those with non-technical backgrounds and University converts. Lessons learned from recruitment and high school outreach activities will be discussed. We observe that 'photonics' is not a term recognized by the populace at large. An improved public understanding of the pervasive nature of electro-optic technologies in everyday life is desired. Curriculum highlights, recommendations; and the evolution of our facilities will be discussed. We will review employment and destination statistics of our graduates. Challenges for the future will be addressed, including the need for greater program visibility amongst regional photonics employers. In summary, the PET program has created an optics specialist with a practical skill-set that will fill the expertise gap that exists in traditional and non-traditional consumers of optical technologies.
© (2004) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Jay Yatulis, Johann Beda, Peter J. Casey, Brahim Chebbi, Steve Finnagan, Treena Grevatt, Alexander McGlashan, Marc Nantel, and Leo Tiberi "Technician and technologist photonics teaching: an Ontario success story", Proc. SPIE 5578, Photonics North 2004: Photonic Applications in Astronomy, Biomedicine, Imaging, Materials Processing, and Education, (9 December 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.565897
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KEYWORDS
Photonics

Electronics

Telecommunications

Laser applications

Optics manufacturing

Education and training

Laser safety

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