Welcome to OP-TEC: The National Center for Optics and Photonics Education
The
National Center for Optics and Photonics Education, OP-TEC, is a consortium of
two-year colleges, high schools, universities, national laboratories, industry
partners, and professional societies funded by the National Science
Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The participating entities of OP-TEC
have joined forces to create a secondary-to-postsecondary "pipeline" of highly
qualified and strongly motivated students and to empower high schools and
community colleges to meet the urgent need for technicians in optics and
photonics.
Headquartered
at CORD in Waco, Texas, OP-TEC serves secondary STEM programs and postsecondary
programs devoted to lasers, optics, and photonics technology or technologies
enabled by optics and photonics.
In addition, OP-TEC provides support through curriculum, instructional
materials, assessment, faculty development, recruiting, and support for
institutional reform. OP-TEC serves as a national clearinghouse for teaching
materials; encourages more schools and colleges to offer programs, courses, and
career information; and helps high school teachers and community and technical
college faculty members develop programs and labs to teach technical content.
The
Center has four goals:
| (1) | Serve as a national clearinghouse for optics and photonics education and training. | |
| (2) | Create, assemble, align, and distribute coordinated curriculum materials designed to support optics, laser, and photonics education in high schools, two-year colleges, and retraining of adult workers. | |
| (3) | Support established and new photonics education programs in high schools, community and technical colleges, universities, and professional societies. | |
| (4) | Provide education and training for administrators, counselors, high school teachers, and community college faculty members to prepare them to: | |
| (a) | design new photonics technology programs that meet their local needs; | |
| (b) | infuse photonics into programs in photonics-enabled
technologies; and
|
|
| (c) | teach optics, photonics, and lasers using curriculum materials distributed by OP‑TEC. | |
OP-TEC
has established a national infrastructure for developing and supporting
widely-disseminated educational programs in cutting-edge, high-demand
technologies that require photonics. This infrastructure encompasses both the
secondary and postsecondary levels and involves collaboration between educators
and industry personnel.
OP-TEC
is also bridging the gap in the participation of women and minorities in
technology, breaking down geographical and socioeconomic barriers, and making
the study of technology more widely accessible. By providing career pathways in
which students begin the pursuit of technical careers early and transition
seamlessly into postsecondary programs, OP-TEC enables students to acquire the
skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
Thank you
for visiting our website! Our website will allow you to register
for OP-TEC workshops, access information on OP-TEC services, resources and
curriculum materials, and learn more about how OP-TEC can assist your
organization in taking the first steps to implementing a photonics program that
can ultimately provide your students the opportunity to work in this high-demand,
high-paying field. If you need
additional assistance, please visit the "Contact Information" page or e-mail us
directly at op-tec@cord.org.
Click here to download an information flier
(PDF file) about OP-TEC!
To download a free copy of the Acrobat Reader, please click the button below.
.gif)
Review the Precision Optics Technician Skill Standards
3rd Edition of Skill Standards now available! Click here to learn more and download a complimentary copy
Kids Like Optics
Dan demonstrated lasers and optics at Regents School in Austin. Click here to see the thank you letters from the kids.
Optics is rapidly becoming an important focus for new businesses in the global economy. In the United States, both large and small businesses are significant players in emerging optics business activity. Optics-related companies number more than 5000, and their net financial impact amounts to more than $50 billion annually. More significant ... is the role of optics as an enabler.
(Harnessing Light: Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century, National Research Council)
For more, see Photonics: An Enabling Technology
Illuminating Our Daily Lives
Optics has a pervasive impact on our daily lives, but that impact is rarely noticed because the products of optical technology are, ironically, often invisible and because we accommodate so swiftly to modern technology. Today we pay as little attention to infrared remote control, light-emitting diodes, and laser printers as to the mirrors that have been with us since antiquity. For a brief story highlighting the pervasiveness of optical technology in everyday life, go here.