Nsf Funded Photon 2 Project And Course Development In Photonics

In recent years, optical electronics and lasers have been widely employed in various realms of the electronics industry such as bioengineering, communication, CNC and routing in cheap designs. While optics has become a vital part of electronics, it has unfortunately been absent in most four-year college/university engineering technology programs. The Electronic and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) program at California State Polytechnic University Pomona (CalPoly-Pomona) has recognized this deficiency and in order to help alleviate this problem joined the NSF funded PHOTON2 project (1). The PHOTON2 project is a New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) sponsored program (2). By working closely with NEBHE, ECET program developed a senior level photonic course using modified PHOTON2 materials and laboratory experiments. This course uses optical and laser components and equipment supplied by PHOTON2 project. This paper will show how the NSF funded PHOTON2 project, helped the ECET program at CalPoly – Pomona, to develop its photonic course. Introduction: In order to stay current with the industry, produce a knowledgeable workforce, and respond to industry needs and expectations, Electronic Engineering and Engineering Technology departments need to continuously update their curriculum. Optics is one of the areas to which engineering schools need to pay more attention. In the last decade, optics and its applications have become an integral part of almost every facet of the electronics industry such as medical, communication, heavy industry, lighting, manufacturing, and routing in cheap design. Optical Company in the Southern California: Many optics related companies, that produce a wide range of optical systems and accessories, are located in southern California (3). These companies produce everything from Lasers, tunable lasers, diode lasers, to spectroscopy, sensors, motion control, telescopes, High Speed Cameras, visible, P ge 12113.2 and UV, IR optics. Table (1) shows the Southern California optics industry. The optics industry consists of many companies ranging from large to small including many well-established companies. Most of these companies employ tens to hundreds of technical people and it can be assumed that their future employees will be graduates of southern California Engineering and Engineering Technology schools. Table 1: Optics industry in the Southern California