Flint, MI--Baker College of Flint has received $200,000 in a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that fast-forwards the state’s first photonics and laser technology associate degree program being launched in the fall quarter of 2013. The NSF award allocates the grant over three years to help create Baker’s photonics program, advance and enlarge Baker’s photonics lab, educate the first group of students, and develop outreach programs that encourage high school students to consider careers in photonics.
The grant is part of the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program that supports efforts to improve the knowledge and skills of technicians who work in high technology fields. This is the first NSF grant awarded to Baker College of Flint. Anca Sala, engineering and computer technology dean at Baker College of Flint, says, “We’ve listened to many of the 50-plus companies in Southeast Michigan that work in the areas of photonics and lasers. Their expressed need for trained technicians is loud and clear."
According to the National Center for Optics and Photonics Education (OP-TEC), the approximate 30 colleges in the U.S. that offer photonics instruction are estimated to graduate 250 to 300 technicians annually. This is about one-third of the industry’s projected demand of 800 new photonics technicians each year through 2017.
In Michigan, Mi-Light, a photonics cluster, was formed December 2012 to support the state’s photonics-related businesses with the goal of growing the state’s talent pool to expand the photonics industry and stimulate innovation. Sala is a founding member and inaugural secretary for Mi-Light. “We will do whatever we can to support Baker’s new program,” said Michelle Stock, inaugural board chair of Mi-Light and president of mlstock Consulting. Stock said that Mi-Light has earmarked money from a Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) grant for Baker’s program to create an endowment and two scholarships.
The grant also enables Baker College to obtain additional lab equipment and increase the lab’s capacity to accommodate larger classes. Sala has already acquired approximately $60,000 of industry-grade lab equipment through purchases and a recent donation by IMRA America (Ann Arbor, MI). The Baker photonics lab was designed to be similar to an industrial lab. It currently has a complete set of lasers and optical components, including mirrors, lenses, and gratings, and test equipment to measure optical beams that will provide the hands-on experience that is stressed across all Baker programs.
OP-TEC, for which Sala is college coordinator, and Indian Hills Community College (IHCC), Ottumwa, IA, are named in the NSF grant abstract as collaborators in creating the photonics academic and outreach programs. OP-TEC is also funded by the NSF ATE program and provides assistance to colleges and universities for creating and implementing successful photonics programs. IHCC has offered a photonics technician program for more than 25 years.
