Certificate of Achievement - Laser Technology

Students completing the low unit Certificate of Achievement in Laser Technology will learn the scientific principles of optics, fiber optics, lasers, cameras, and other equipment that creates or detects light, as well as an introduction to electronics principles, devices and circuits.  Students will be taught the skills required of competent industry technicians that will supplement other manufacturing and industrial skills that they may already have.

Graduates with prior experience in related fields will be prepared for a variety of demanding careers, such as assembly and test technician, laser-process technologist, sales and marketing specialist, field service technician, and technical education serving a variety of industries relying on optical technology including the areas of aerospace, medicine, remote sensing and environmental monitoring, energy, manufacturing, defense and homeland security, telecommunications, and entertainment.

Only fundamental high school-level mathematics, including trigonometry, geometry, and algebra, are required for enrollment.

 

The planned Pasadena City College (PCC) Laser Technology Program is a direct transfer of the Photonics and Laser Technology Certificate Program from Irvine Valley College (IVC). This Program transfer brings with it a large and diverse network of over 50 industrial partners, which regularly requested more graduates than the practical academic enrollment could support.

 

Our vision for the program at PCC is two pronged:

 

1. A low-unit Certificate of Achievement (13 units; this rationale) will benefit students employed in industries in which laser technology will enhance their career path and growth.

 

2. A AS/Certificate of Achievement (19 units certificate of achievement) will benefit students seeking an AS degree to aid in securing employment in industries relying on laser technology.

 

Because the PCC program is new, we base our analysis of enrollment and completions on trends from Irvine Valley college. Over the past 8 years of the program’s existence at Irvine Valley College, typical enrollment numbers ranged from 8 to 32 students, usually 20% of whom were female, and over 50% of whom were minority students.  We anticipate similar enrollments and demographics for the program at PCC.  Based on these numbers and given average attrition and the difficulty of this technical material, 12 completers are projected each year for the new PCC program. 

 

For comparison, the IVC program (certificate only) has enrolled over 150 students since 2011. A recent email survey by the IVC Photonics Technology Faculty asked a simple question of these students: “Are you employed in the optics industry or enrolled in an optics education program?” This simple survey showed that, of the 85% of once-enrolled students who responded, over 93% were employed or enrolled in a technical field related to optics. That’s about 15 students per year, for a program that started with single-digit enrollment numbers in 2011. Given the consistent industry demand, the past and current trend of employed graduates should continue. The IVC program has graduates working as technicians at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the National Ignition Facility of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and various small Government contractors, optical hardware vendors, and precision optics fabrication shops across the region.

 

Section offerings

The four core classes of this program will be newly offered at PCC beginning in Fall 2020 so there is no enrollment data for them as yet. Information obtained from the CCCO Datamart indicates that the equivalent program at Irvine Valley College (which this program will replace) offered 1-2 sections of courses in the laser program each term, but no more than a single section of each per term.

 

Completions by Top Code:  0934.80 (retrieved from Data Mart 11/25/19)

Data mart information indicates that over the past 2 years, 16-19 awards were made in this area statewide (see below). Of these, most originated from San Jose City College. 

 

Awards approved by CA chancellors’ office	Annual 2017-2018	Annual 2018-2019
State of California Total		19	16
	Certificate requiring 16 to fewer than 30 semester units		1
	Associate of Science (A.S.) degree	2	2
	Certificate requiring 30 to < 60 semester units	1	1
	Certificate requiring 18 to < 30 semester units	3
	Certificate requiring 12 to < 18 units	13	12

 

COE labor market data indicates that the average number of awards made in southern California annually from 2015-2018 is 13; over the past 12 months, there were 52 job postings in the area for photonics workers indicating that even if we were able to attain the state completion totals shown above, we would not meet employment demand in our area.

The Laser Technology Certificate of Achievement is a low-unit certificate of achievement that will teach students the hands-on skills necessary to thrive in corporate labs that use or manufacture optical systems. This certificate is aimed at students who are seeking specific training in laser technology to supplement prior employment experience in related fields; students do not seek an AS degree nor do they need coursework in electronics.

Program courses have a strong emphasis on laboratory work and industrial-grade hardware demonstrations. Students will gain the applied skills required to succeed as a precision optics fabrication technician, a laser technician, in four-year engineering programs, or in graduate school. Relevant industries include aerospace, medicine, remote sensing and environmental monitoring, energy, manufacturing, defense and homeland security, telecommunications, and entertainment.

A Certificate of Achievement is awarded upon completion of all required courses with a grade of C or better.

 

Students will be assessed on their ability to

1.     Recognize and describe the purposes of different optical components and systems, including lenses, mirrors, prisms, windows, diffraction gratings, polarizers, waveplates, optical fibers, lasers, LEDs, detectors, cameras, and optoelectronics.

2.     Demonstrate effective application of optical devices to generate, manipulate, and/or detect light.

3.     Operate safely high-energy, high-voltage laser systems to comply with ANSI and OSHA standards required in industrial laboratory environments.

4.     Apply the quality assurance (QA) practices required to inspect optical components to ISO10110 drawing standards and/or military specifications (MIL SPECS), and measure their performance using the industrial tools of an optics fabrication shop.

5.     Perform the technical tasks required to characterize of a precision optical system, such as the measurement of a system's transmitted wavefront error or its performance in the creation of high-resolution images.

 

This program is one of two newly created certificate programs in this area at PCC:

 

Certificate of Achievement in Laser Technology (low-unit). This program is intended for industry professionals who are seeking hands on training with equipment used in laser and optical technology areas. They do not seek an AS degree, nor do they need coursework in electronics.

 

AS/Certificate of Achievement in Laser Technology: This program consists of courses in laser technology and electronics and provides a degree opportunity for entry level workers seeking employment in industries relying on laser and optical technology.

 

This program consists of a series of 4 courses and can be completed in 4 terms (or less) as we gauge demand.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
LASR 215	Fundamentals of Light and Lasers	3	Y1 FALL
LASR 230	Introduction to Optical Devices	3	Y1 SPRING
LASR 245	Quality Assurance of Precision Optics	4	Y2 FALL
LASR 260	Metrology of Optical Systems	3	Y2 SPRING

This is a new program at PCC. There are no similar programs currently active at the college

No similar programs exist in Southern California, and the only other program in the State, at San Jose City College, is not a source for employees by our industrial partners. This Pasadena City College (PCC) Laser Technology Program is a direct transfer of the Photonics and Laser Technology Certificate Program from Irvine Valley College (IVC). The IVC faculty, industrial-grade equipment, the teaching materials, and the curricula of that program is moving to PCC to create this Laser Technology Program

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