Indian Hills Community College: An OP-TEC Partner College

OP-TEC is a consortium of two year colleges that have well-established photonics programs. These “Partner Colleges” are the models for OP-TEC curricula; they develop and test instructional modules, guides, innovative courses and teaching strategies; and they provide technical assistance to colleges that are planning and initiating new offerings in photonics.

Indian Hills Community College (IHCC), in Ottumwa, IA has a 24-year history in Laser/Electro-Optics Technology (LEOT) education. When the LEOT Program was created in 1985, it included some small labs and laser equipment. In 1990, IHCC opened the 128,000 square foot Advanced Technology Center (ATC). The 4000 square foot Laser Electro-Optics Technology laboratory, located in the ATC along with other advanced technology programs, has a large common area equipped with isolation tables, low power lasers, computers, and optical equipment. Surrounding the common area, there are 7 LEOT application laboratories that house a laser machining system, a laser welding system, several medical lasers, a laser stent cutting system, a laser engraving system, and numerous low power lasers, instrumentation, and photonics equipment.

The LEOT AAS degree program at IHCC shares a common electronics core curriculum with the Robotics/Automation Technology program and the Electronics Engineering Technology program. IHCC has also infused one photonics course into the electronics core curriculum, so that students from all 3 majors will receive photonics education/training.

The Electronics Core diploma program includes a photonics course, 3 math courses, 5 electrical/electronics courses, along with other courses in computers, business, communications, and social sciences. The second year of the LEOT program includes 11 laser specialty courses, a physics course, and other general education courses.

Since its inception, IHCC has graduated over 435 LEOT technicians, which have been employed broadly across the nation at firms such as Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Spectra Physics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Laserage and Boston Scientific.

In addition to their role as an OP-TEC model, college mentor, and provider of technical assistance, IHCC provides these services for OP-TEC:

• Greg Kepner and the IHCC photonics staff developed the Program Planning Guide entitled Infusing Photonics Education into Manufacturing Technology AAS Programs.
• Instructor Bill Gray will be pilot testing an online photonics course for incumbent workers beginning in March 2009.
• Instructor Frank Reed has assisted in reviewing the National Photonics Skill Standard and photonics related curriculum materials.
• Department Chair, Greg Kepner has presented information at national conferences on IHCC’s innovative Early College Program for area high schools that provides students with the opportunity to earn up to 40 college credits and an Electronics diploma while still in high school.

IHCC’s participation as a Partner College in OP-TEC has provided professional development opportunities for Greg and Bill, a leadership role for IHCC in photonics education and contributed to enrollment growth in IHCC’s photonics programs through their Early College Program partnership with area high schools.

Are you a graduate of IHCC? Tell me about your experience at IHCC. Where are you working now? How did your education at IHCC prepare you for your career?

Contact information for IHCC:
gkepner@indianhills.edu
bgray@indianhills.edu
(641) 683-5284
www.indianhills.edu

Indian River State College: An OP-TEC Partner College

OP-TEC is a consortium of two year colleges that have well-established photonics programs. These “Partner Colleges” are the models for OP-TEC curricula; they develop and test instructional modules, guides, innovative courses and teaching strategies; and they provide technical assistance to colleges that are planning and initiating new offerings in photonics. At Indian River State College (IRSC), in Fort Pierce, FL, photonics and robotics have been infused as specialty areas of an AAS degree program. The photonics and robotics specialties are introduced in the second year, built into an electronics engineering technology (EET) core curriculum. The program is called the Robotics and Photonics Institute. Since the infusion of photonics the enrollment in the EET program has increased more than fourfold, as indicated in the chart above.

The IRSC photonics program specializes in the areas of Defense and Homeland Security, Biomedical Instrumentation, and Photovoltaics (solar cells). The Robotics and Photonics Institute is housed at the Kight Center for Emerging Technologies, one of the most advanced technical facilities for two-year programs in the nation. The architects of this program are Dr. Chrys Panayiotou, Chair of the Electronics Engineering Technology program, and Dr. Jose Farinos, Dean of the Advanced Technology Division. In July 2008, IRSC received the National Program Innovation award for the Robotics and Photonics Institute at the SAME-TEC conference in Austin, Texas.

In addition to their role as an OP-TEC model, college mentor and provider of technical assistance, IRSC provides other, unique services to OP-TEC:

• In cooperation with the University of Central Florida, IRSC has developed three instructional modules.
  1. Infrared Systems for Homeland Security
  2. Imaging Systems for Homeland Security
  3. Photonic Principles in Photovoltaic Cell Technology
  
• Dr. Panayiotou has written two Program Planning Guides that are published and distributed by OP-TEC.
  1. Infusing Biomedical Applications of Photonics into EET Programs
  2. Infusing Defense and Homeland Security Applications into EET Programs
  
• IRSC developed a very successful recruiting strategy consisting of a dedicated recruiter visiting high schools on a daily basis, monthly information sessions, open houses and laboratory tours, radio and newspaper advertising, hosting high school counselor meetings, and summer institutes for high school students. Click here to view the paper on this innovation.

IRSC’s participation as a Partner College in OP-TEC has provided professional development opportunities for Dr. Panayiotou, a leadership role for IRSC in photonics education and significant enrollment growth in IRSC’s photonics program through their testing of innovative student recruitment strategies with local high schools.

Are you a graduate of IRSC? Tell me about your experience at IRSC. Where are you working now? How did your education at IRSC prepare you for your career?

Contact info for IRSC:
Dr. Chrys Panayiotou
cpanayio@irsc.edu
772-462-7621
Dr. Jose Farinos
jfarinos@irsc.edu
www.irsc.edu