Central Carolina 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.

The Laser & Photonics Technology (LPT) program is located at the Harnett County Campus of Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) in Lillington, NC. It is a 74 hour, two year associate degree program, with five photonics courses building from the electronics core curriculum. The first year of the program, students’ core classes consist of mainly electronics. The following photonics courses are offered during the second year:

• Lasers and Applications
• Photonics Technology
• Photonics Applications
• Photonics Project
• Fiber Optics

Upon graduation, students earn an AAS degree in Laser & Photonics Technology as well as a certificate in Electronics Engineering Technology. Placement rate of CCCC LPT graduates has recently been near 100%, with laser systems and communications companies in the Carolinas and in surrounding states. Feedback from employers about the knowledge, skills and work ethics of LPT grads is very positive. A company who hires many of the graduates commented that, in a recent test given to 600 laser technicians “…all of the CCCC graduates scored in the 90 percentile.”

The LPT program was initiated at CCCC in 1987 by Steve Lympany; today it is led by Gary Beasley. The program facilities include two main classrooms and 7 labs. One lab is for electronics, one lab is for electronics and low power lasers/photonics, four labs are for high power lasers, and one lab is dedicated to fiber optics. Since its inception, several hundred students have graduated and are employed in photonics companies throughout the country. Many graduates have also taken advantage of articulation agreements with several universities, which provide a path for students from the LPT program to continue their education, earning a four year degree with only two additional years.

Recruitment and retention of students are the greatest challenge for the LPT program. Recruitment has improved in recent years due to implementing of OP-TEC strategies to “build the high school pipeline”. Retention has also improved due to the use of the supplemental Math for Photonics materials, developed by OP-TEC and tested by CCCC. (See Dec. 18, 2008 blog post.)

In addition to his role as an OP-TEC model, college mentor, and provider of technical assistance CCCC lead instructor, Gary Beasley, has assisted OP-TEC in the following ways:

• Reviewed and pilot tested OP-TEC instructional modules.
• Hosted an OP-TEC Information Workshop last spring.
• Developed and conducted “Laser Workshops” at CCCC for high school, and middle school, students.
• Developed and tested lab activities and prepared equipment specifications to support OP-TEC instructional modules.

CCCC’s participation as a Partner College in OP-TEC has provided professional development opportunities for Gary, a leadership role for CCCC in photonics education and has strengthened CCCC’s outreach to high schools through recruitment efforts and on-campus student experiences.

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

Contact information for CCCC's LPT Program:
Mr. Gary Beasley
Lead Instructor
gbeasley@cccc.edu
(910) 814-8828
www.cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/lasersphotonics/

Indiana University of Pennsylvania: 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.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) has a two-year campus in Freeport, PA (northwest of Pittsburgh), that offers AAS degrees and transfer opportunities to its baccalaureate programs. A growing photonics industry is emerging in this region, including companies such as II-VI Incorporated, a world leader in laser and optical crystal growth and manufacturing technology; Optical Systems Technology, Inc., a manufacturer of night vision productsoptical instruments and lenses; and Sabeus, Inc., a leading independent developer of fiber optic systems for acoustic sensing, intrusion detection and surveillance applications.

In 2002, IUP launched a comprehensive degree program in Electro-Optics (EO) which offers education/training in EO from associate’s degrees to bachelor’s degrees. The multiple entrance and exit points provide considerable flexibility for young people to pursue technical and academic education in photonics. The first level of the program allows students to complete the 64 credits needed for the associate degrees in EO. After earning an associate’s degree, students are prepared for employment as technicians in the photonics industry.

Students may exit the program at this point or continue to the second level of the program which allows them to transfer the entire 64 credits from their associate degree toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics (Electro-Optics Track). After completing their BS Physics, the graduates can enter the workforce into highly-skilled positions in the electro-optics industry.

IUP has signed articulation agreements with local high schools which allow their students to earn up to 15 credits toward the associate degree in EO. IUP is also working with local school districts to expand their dual enrollment opportunities with other high schools.

In addition to his role as an OP-TEC model, college mentor, and provider of technical assistance IUP’s lead EO professor, Dr. Feng Zhou, has assisted OP-TEC in the following ways:

• Reviewed and pilot tested OP-TEC instructional modules.
• Tracked the emergence of new technology developments in solid state lighting and solar energy photovoltaics.
• Developed and conducted summer camps for recruiting high school students; prepared a monograph to describe the program outreach activities and its successes.
• Designed graphics for use in revising/updating Laser Electro-Optics Technology (LEOT) instructional modules.
• Served an internship at OP-TEC in the summer of 2008, to develop labs and equipment lists for OP-TEC photonics courses.

IUP’s participation as a Partner College in OP-TEC has provided professional development opportunities for Dr. Zhou, a leadership role for IUP in photonics education and has strengthened IUP’s outreach to high schools through recruitment efforts, on-campus student experiences and summer camps.

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

Contact information for IUP EO Program:
Dr. Feng Zhou
Professor of EO
fzhou@iup.edu
ph 724-294-3300 x27
www.iup.edu/physics/

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

Texas State Technical 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.

Texas State Technical College (TSTC) in Waco, TX, was the first college in the U.S. to initiate education in Laser/Electro-Optics Technology (LEOT) technician education. In 1969, TSTC’s LEOT program became the pilot site for curriculum development, conducted by Technical Education Research Center SW (TERC-SW), under a grant from the U.S. Office of Education. (In 1979, TERC-SW became CORD, the Center for Occupational Research and Development.) TSTC’s LEOT program grew rapidly in the 1970’s, with a national job market for laser technicians, and support from employers such as Sandia, Los Alamos, Texas Instruments and Caterpillar. By 1980, enrollment in TSTC’s LEOT program exceeded 130 students. Over $5 million in lab equipment has been acquired or donated to support the labs.

Today, TSTC Waco offers photonics-related AAS degree programs:

1. Laser Electro-Optics Technology (LEOT) is a 72-hour AAS program, containing eight courses (36 hours) in optics, electro-optics, laser fundamentals, laser systems and applications. Graduates of the LEOT program are qualified to work as R&D technicians in energy, defense and aerospace, as field service techs for laser equipment and for laser systems OEM companies.
2. Nanotechnology is also a 72-hour program, which specializes in nanotechnology instrumentation and measurements. Optics and photonics are an integral part of the curriculum, which provides students access to advanced, industry-standard equipment in lasers and optics, vacuum systems, semiconductor development equipment, scanning electron microscopes, transmission electron microscopes, atomic force microscopes, ellipsometers and laser microscopes.
   
   TSTC is also planning to offer a one-year certificate for Laser Lab Technicians as an “early college” program in the near future.

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

• John O. Pedrotti, Program Chair, has designed and built a laser/optics fundamentals lab where he conducts one-week, summer workshops for high school teachers and students. John has developed a detailed syllabus lecture/demonstration notes, lab activities and hand-outs for this workshop—which he is willing to share. He is also developing a report describing planning, recruiting and operating the workshop.
• John has authored an instructional module in nanophotonics and a Program Planning Guide for infusing photonics in nanotechnology.
• Larry Grulick, OP-TEC CoPI, is developing a series of six “Career Videos”, highlighting former photonics students that are successfully employed as technicians. These will be available in summer 2009.
• TSTC’s participation as a Partner College in OP-TEC has provided professional development opportunities for John, a leadership role for TSTC in photonics education and significant enrollment growth in TSTC’s photonics programs through the testing of innovative student recruitment strategies such as summer workshops and focused recruiters.

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

Contact info for TSTC:
john.pedrotti@tstc.edu
larry.grulick@systems.tstc.edu
254-867-3901
www.waco.tstc.edu/let/

Camden County 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. Camden County College (CCC), in Blackwood, NJ, was an early pioneer in Laser/Electro-Optics Technology (LEOT) technician education. In 1976, Dr. Fred Seeber initiated CCC’s LEOT program with one small lab and minimal equipment. In 1989, the college opened the nationally recognized Laser Institute of Technology for Education and Research (LITER). This 12,000 square foot facility houses the offices, classrooms and state-of-the-art labs (7 high powered laser labs, 7 low powered laser labs, and 4 fiber-optic labs) for the CCC photonics programs. Since its inception, CCC has graduated over 500 technicians; today, many of these graduates are presidents and CEOs of their own company.

The Photonics program at CCC has two tracts:

1. The LEOT option, with 6 laser specialty courses, 4 electronics courses, 2 physics courses and 2 math courses. This option is also divided into a non-calculus and calculus path depending on the student’s ability and interest to enter employment or a BS program after graduation.
2. The Fiber/Optics option, with 4 laser specialty courses, 3 fiber/optics courses and 3 electronics courses. Students in the Fiber/Optics option can earn a certificate, a (non-calculus) AAS or select a “calculus path” to enable them to transfer to a 4 year program.
   Both options require computer courses.

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

• Dr. Seeber (who is now emeritus professor at CCC) is the Chair of the ANSI Z136 Committee on the Safe Use of Lasers in Educational Facilities, and the lead author of the ANSI Standard. He writes the safety procedures for OP-TEC teaching materials and conducts mini-workshops on this topic for OP-TEC at regional and national conferences.
• Dr. Raman Kolluri has worked with OP-TEC to develop online professional development courses for training new photonics faculty in colleges and high schools. (Another course will be starting in early March, 2009). Fred and Raman also host the “3-Day Capstone” for this course at LITER, where participants work all the labs and counsel with CCC staff on photonics equipment and implementation issues.
• Dr. Seeber has begun to develop an OP-TEC Photonics Technician Alumni Council, which will provide a network for communications and leadership among photonics technicians.

CCC's participation as a Partner College in OP-TEC has provided professional development opportunities for Fred and Raman, a leadership role for CCC in photonics education and potential enrollment growth in CCC’s photonics programs through their testing of innovative student recruitment strategies with local high schools.

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

Contact information for CCC:
fseeber@camdencc.edu
rkolluri@camdencc.edu
(856) 227-7200
www.camdencc.edu/departments/photonics

Black Silicon for Solar Cells: What does it mean?

Silicon is the “material of choice” for solar voltaic cells because it takes relatively little energy to excite the electrons in a silicon crystal into the conduction band, where they are free to conduct electricity that can be used to generate electric power. Scientists and engineers have spent many years trying to modify silicon crystals by doping them with other materials that would make the photovoltaic process even more efficient. In the last few years, scientists at Harvard University found that if they blasted the surface of a silicon wafer (in the presence of sulfur hexafluoride gas) with femtosecond laser pulses, the silicon received a heavy doping of sulfur and the surface of the silicon developed deep, microscopic cones. The result was that this newly formed, thin silicon layer, called “black silicon” is 200-500 times more sensitive to light than untreated silicon. How is this possible?

With its new structure, the band gap in the thin silicon layer - the difference between the valence band and the conduction band - is smaller. This means that longer wavelengths of sunlight (infrared) are also able to excite electrons into the conduction band - contributing energy to the solar-electric conversion. Furthermore, by applying a small voltage (a bias) to black silicon creates conditions in which each incoming photon can excite still more electrons. So, not only is the material responsive to wavelengths that silicon-based devices couldn’t detect in the past - it also produces a much stronger signal in response to a weak stimulus. The increased sensitivity makes black silicon good for detection applications; and the increase in absorption wavelengths improves the efficiency of silicon for solar cells.

The Harvard Scientists (Stephen Saylor and James Carey) formed a spinoff company, SiOnyx, to commercialize the process for solar energy and highly-sensitive, imaging applications, such as night vision, surveillance, digital cameras and medical imaging. For over three years, they’ve been pretty quiet about this, but in the last few months, they are starting to talk. Maybe that’s a sign that some of the applications of black silicon are about to “come to market”.

This is another example of photonics (femtosecond lasers) as an enabling technology - this time to enhance the efficiencies of solar voltaic cells.

To read the complete article about black silicon, go to:

www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/10/12/sionyx

What do you think about the potential of “black silicon” for solar cell improvement? What other breakthroughs do you see in solar electric energy?