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Welcome
to the Optical Technology program.
Choose from the areas listed below for more details.
We currently
offer both day and evening classes leading to a degree in Optical Systems
Technology and we also can assist you in formulating flexible schedule
if you are unable to attend full time. Please come in and see our state-of-the-art facilities and talk with our faculty. Feel free to call the
Optics Department at (585) 292-2680 for details, academic information or to
arrange a visit.
Optical
Systems Technology
In 1963 Monroe
Community College (MCC) became the first school in the nation to create
a two-year degree program (A.A.S.) for training technicians to work in
the optical industry. Today, MCC has received national and international
recognition for its comprehensive optics program which includes manufacturing
and electronics, design and function of optical components, optical instruments,
and experimental techniques. Courses currently offered within the program
deal with geometrical optics, optical instruments, metrology, optical
fabrication, wave optics and applications, fiber optics, electro-optics,
laser applications and holography and photo/imaging science. The courses in the
curriculum are designed to meet the needs of both the people who have
no previous experience in the field and those already employed who wish
to upgrade or improve their skills.
The optical technology laboratories, covering over 5,000 square feet at
ground level, are located in a building housing several other technologies.
The facilities are up-to-date and contain state-of-the-art equipment for
students to gain valuable hands on experience. There are eleven rooms, each
devoted to specific activities, such as: optical testing, electro optics,
fiber optics, photo/imaging science, optical fabrication, holography and metrology.
There is also an advanced metrology laboratory containing over $1,000,000
dollars worth of equipment donated by the Zygo Corporation of Middlefield
Connecticut. Heavy emphasis is placed on laboratory skills, and a minimum
of half of the total course time is devoted to implementing experimental
techniques, and strong emphasis is placed on a team approach for problem
solving.
WHAT IS
AN OPTICAL SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN?
Optical systems
technicians work with scientists and engineers in research, development,
design, manufacturing and quality control. They perform testing and evaluation
of optical components and systems. Optical systems technology is important
to telecommunications, digital imaging and photography, automotive tracking
and control, laser applications, fiber optics, and robotics vision systems.
Every course in the program gives the student an opportunity to study,
understand, and operate the precise equipment and instrumentation used
in the optical industry today.
PARTNERING WITH LOCAL INDUSTRY AND UNVERSITIES
Monroe's
ongoing interaction with industry not only produces an up-to-date program
that remains responsive to current needs, but reflects Rochester's long
history of university-industry partnerships. A highly educated optics
workforce is a key element in the Rochester economy, which relies on
MCC's ability to educate optical technicians in tandem with Rochester
Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester which provide
bachelor and graduate education in imaging and optics. Optics faculty
also provide industrially relevant training in applied optical technology
to such firms as Xerox, Eastman Kodak, Corning Tropel, Optimax and Melles Griot in their facilities.
EMPLOYMENT
MCC graduates
are currently employed both locally and nationally by such companies as:
Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch and Lomb, Texas Instruments, Melles Griot,
ITT, Coherent, Lockheed Martin, Spectra Physics,
IBM, Corning and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Employment opportunities for
MCC's optics students have historically outnumbered the available pool
of graduates.
TRANSFER
OPPORTUNITIES
Many graduates of the optics program have continued their education at
major universities such as RIT, University of Rochester, University of Arizona and received their bachelor's degrees in such fields
as optics, imaging, electronics, physics, mathematics, and computer science.
Many times, employers have paid for this additional education. Students
planning to continue a bachelor's degree program immediately upon graduation
are advised to discuss their curriculum plans with an optics advisor.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION OR AN APPLICATION
Call the Office of Admissions at (585) 292-2200,
Write or call
the Optics Department (585) 292-2680 or
292-2676 for details, academic
information, or to arrange for a visit.
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