Tuesday, October 21, 2008

OP-TEC Supplemental Grant to Prepare for Precision Optics Technician Programs

I am pleased to announce that OP-TEC has received a supplemental grant from NSF
to explore the need and feasibility for a national, multi-year project to initiate college
programs to educate/train Precision Optics Technicians (POTs). The attachment
describes POTs, their roles in critical, emerging technologies—and in the defense
of our country. Based on preliminary research, there is strong demand for these
highly-skilled technicians but scarcely any capability in our nation’s colleges for
preparing them.

In this one-year effort, OP-TEC will quantify the need, develop the skill standard,
design a model curriculum, form 4-5 college/industry partnerships and identify a “lead college-industry partnership” to manage the multi-year project which will be proposed to NSF in fall 2009. OP-TEC will assist and support the follow-on work,but I believe it should be led by a community college/photonics cluster partnership, if possible.

Dan Hull
Executive Director
OP-TEC
254-741-8332
hull@cord.org

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