Photonics: Learning at the Speed of Light

Picture a classroom filled with the possibilities of light. Where students come to learn about a science so innovative, the textbooks are still being written. Where they train to become valued technicians and technologists in the advanced workplaces of the future. Where academic, provincial and industry partners join forces to create a quality education strengthened by the sum of each perspective. Where students learn to prepare themselves for rewarding careers. And where their contribution to the province that made it possible begins.

The classroom is real. The students are learning about photonics, optics and lasers, across a spectrum of cutting-edge applications. The first wave of graduates is already making an impact in the workplace. All the partners are working together seamlessly to drive the programs’ success. We should know: because the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) have been there – from conception to classroom. OCE’s Centre of Excellence for Photonics identified the opportunity, brought the partners together, built the necessary support, spent a year preparing curricula, labs and faculty, and was there like a proud parent on the first day of school.

Here in Ontario, students have flocked to attend three landmark college programs designed to prepare them to join the photonics revolution. These programs are the achievement of an educational vision that OCE was determined should see the light of day.

Photonics 101 Photonics is all around us: every time you turn on the TV remote, watch a DVD, scan groceries or surf the Internet. Photonics has been with us forever – from eyes to early microscopes to the invention of photographic equipment – but took a sharp turn in 1960 with the invention of the laser – followed by the development of optical fibers to transmit information using beams of light. Photonics revolutionized telecommunications in the latter part of the 20th century – providing the basic infrastructure for the Internet. Now an emerging multi-trillion dollar industry, the growth of photonics goes well beyond telecommunications to cover a vast array of applications in science and technology including laser surgery, optics, biotech research, holography and laser material processing.

Filling the gap.

When a pamphlet from Niagara College first crossed the desk of Dr. Marc Nantel at OCE, he was most struck by what he did not see. Announcing the launch of a new Centre for Integrated Manufacturing Technologies and Research (CIMTAR), the pamphlet mentioned everything but photonics: no laser cutting, welding, drilling or marking, and no optical fibre or photonics components manufacturing.

Dr. Nantel, a photonics specialist, quickly discovered this critical gap ran right across Ontario’s education system: No credentialed undergraduate programs in photonics and no way to train skilled personnel in this vanguard technology. Ontario was in danger of being left behind. He approached Niagara College who challenged OCE to offer a solution.

OCE set to work on all fronts – sourcing and connecting the key partners, which by now also included Algonquin College in Ottawa, plus a roster of industry heavyweights like JDS Uniphase and Nortel. Dr. Nantel remembers: “We put out a proposal in 2000 for both colleges to create a new curriculum, new labs, new everything to address this gap.” OCE secured initial funding from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) and others. Then helped the colleges to launch the four-year Photonics Education and Training project (PET) and establish the charter two-year and three-year programs designed to create photonics engineering technicians and technologists.

Recent graduate, Ryan Glaves, credits the PET project with giving him exactly what he needs to excel: “it was a chance to work with cutting-edge equipment along with access to some of the most knowledgeable professors in North America.” With a curriculum spanning physics, lasers, and photonics applications to technical writing, the students were well prepared to tackle real world challenges.

Now a successful manager in the photonics industry, Glaves is also a nominee for the Premier’s Awards of Excellence: “What the photonics program did for me was to provide the base knowledge and skills that make me good at my job – which in my case focuses on material processing lasers. The second thing it gave me is what I call the ‘intangibles’ – working under pressure, being flexible, being efficient everyday in work tasks, being able to schedule.”

The PET project results are impressive: 90% of graduates from the first cohort were employed in related fields within six months of graduation – of these, half were hired by Ontario photonics companies clearly in need of their expertise. The PET project wrapped up on a high note in Summer 2006, after graduating three full cohorts. The two Photonics Engineering Technician and Technologist programs are now part of Niagara and Algonquin Colleges’ regular offerings and continue to train photonics experts for future needs in this strategic sector of the economy.

From PET to PAL.

The success of PET lit the way for the more intensive Photonics Advanced Learning (PAL) project to establish a 4-year Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Photonics, available at both colleges. Once again, OCE brokered the deals to fund, plan and drive the programs: bolstered by the support of the MEDT and industry partners that now include Nortel, JDS Uniphase, Celestica and General Motors. Now in its third year of study, the first cohorts of BAT - Photonics students will graduate in 2008.

The PAL project promotes what Dr. Nantel calls “tactile” learning – meaning quality lab time for students to hone their skills: “The main goal is to prepare new graduates to be useful in the workplace: to hit the production floor or industrial research lab doing jobs that call for core subject knowledge of optics, lasers and physics.

Flash forward.

Good news travels fast. Riding the success of the PET and PAL projects, OCE continues to create vital new connections in the world of photonics. It started with OCE forming a network of educators and trainers in photonics in Ontario (OPETA). Among the network’s accomplishments was the facilitation of the donation of more than $4-million worth of equipment from industry to Ontario colleges and universities. And when OCE noticed similar networks sprouting up in other countries, it co-founded the Global Photonics Education Network (GPEN) to link photonics students, faculty and industry professionals from Ontario to the world.

Our newfound sense of global connectivity and community culminates in 2007 as Ottawa hosts the international ‘Education and Training in Optics and Photonics Conference’ from June 3-5 – to be chaired by Dr. Marc Nantel, Director, Business Development, for OCE’s Centre of Excellence for Photonics. The conference will showcase Ontario’s position as a new hotbed of photonics education. Now, six years on from when OCE first got the ball rolling, the future looks brighter than ever.