Pre-College Students and Parents

GET A HIGH-TECH, HIGH-PAYING JOB IN LESS THAN 2 YEARS!

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It's Hands-on

You spend up to 50% of your class time in labs working with industry-grade equipment.

It's Fast

It takes less then 2 years to complete the program and earn an Associate Degree.

It Pays Well

Current median salary of technicians in lasers and fiber optics is $63,200.

It's A Clean Environment

The majority of work by laser and fiber optics technicians is done in a climate-controlled and clean workspace.

It's Cutting-Edge & Exciting

Touch screens, self-driving cards, super fast downloading, and virtual reality. All of these are enabled by lasers, fiber optics, and robotics.

Lasers, optics, photonics, and fiber optics (LOPFO) are advanced technologies enabling complex, sophisticated, and very expensive instrumentation used in the biomedical field, life sciences, remote sensing, and information technology.

The United States commands global leadership in these technologies, producing high-wage jobs in the United States. An August 2012 report published by the National Academy of Sciences, “Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation”, states that $4.9 billion worth of laser sales enabled $7.5 trillion of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2009 and 2010. These are the technologies the U.S. should pursue in order to remain the world leader in the design, manufacture, and export of technologically superior systems.

A study conducted by the University of North Texas in June 2012, identified an annual national need of 1,592 technicians in the LOPFO field while the present output of U.S. colleges is only 350. The same study indicates that in the southeast region we must increase the present output of LOPFO technicians by 300% to meet industry demands.

There is obviously an urgent need to ramp up the production of LOPFO technicians to satisfy the high demand, maintain our world leadership, and create more high-paying jobs here at home.

Read more on the current state of optics and photonics from the report Preparing the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce: A study of Occupation and skills Demand in the Photonics Industry.

Industries
Automotive, Aircraft, Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture, Food or Chemical Processing Plants, Industrial Machinery, Electronic Systems, Semiconductor, Consumer Electronics.

Tasks
Building, testing, installing, programming, maintaining and repairing robotic and automation systems in industrial manufacturing plants such as automotive, aircraft, industrial machinery, and processing plants such as food and beverage, chemicals, mines, wood and pulp, and others.

Job Titles & Average Salaries
Avionics Technician – $56,910
Photonics Technician – $61,580
Laser Technician – $61,580
Electro-optics Technician – $61,580
Manufacturing Production Technician – $61,580
Assembler – $29,910
Testing Technician – $53,070
Robotics Technician – $53,070

Industries
Pharmaceutical, Biochemical, Forensic Science, Environmental Protection Agencies, Industrial Forensics.

Tasks
Building, testing, installing, programming, maintaining and repairing analytical instrumentation used in environmental monitoring, biochemistry, medicine, etc. Examples are spectrophotometers, fluorometers, luminometers, and others.

Job Titles & Average Salaries
Photonics Technician – $61,580
Assembler – $29,910
Engineering Technician – $61,580
Testing Technician – $53,070
Electro-optics Technician – $61,580
Field Service Technician – $54,640

Industries
Fiber Optics, Wireless Communication, Network and Computer Support, Broadband Systems, Telemetry.

Tasks
Repairing computers and networks, troubleshooting cellular systems, installing and maintaining video security systems, repairing radio and telemetry systems repair.

Job Titles & Average Salaries
Computer Repairer – $36,560
Networking Technician – $61,830
Electronic Technician – $59,820
Communications Technician – $55,190
Telecom Equipment Repairer – $55,190
Field Service Technician – $54,540
Fiber Optics Technician – $54,540
Telecom Engineering Specialist – $98,430

Industries
Department of Defense, Aerospace, Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture, Computer & Information Technology, Research Laboratories, Homeland Security, Dept. of Energy.

Tasks
Building, testing, installing, maintaining and repairing radar, laser, guidance, avionics, surveillance, infra-red, warfare and anti-warfare systems

Job Titles & Average Salaries
Remote Sensing Technician – $44,650
Engineering Technician – $59,820
Electronics Technician – $59,820
Avionics Technician – $56,910
Radar Technician – $44,650
Sonar Technician – $44,650

Industries
Developers and Manufacturers of Lasers and Laser Systems, Optical Sensors, Imaging Systems, Optical Coatings.

Tasks
Building, testing, installing, programming, maintaining and repairing laser systems, systems with embedded lasers such as mass spectrometers, Lidars, metal cutting, welding or drilling, telescopes, microscopes, cameras, and other opto electronic systems.

Job Titles & Average Salaries
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician – $28,890
Mechanical Technician – $53,070
Laser Technician – $61,580
Engineering Technician – $61,580
Electro-optics Technician – $61,580
Production Technician – $61,580
Alignment and Testing Technician – $53,070

Industries
Biotechnology, Medical Equipment Manufacturing and Servicing, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing.

Tasks
Installing, maintaining and repairing medical equipment such as MRI, X-Ray, ECG, lasers, PET and CT scans, ultrasound and life support equipment.

Job Titles & Average Salaries
Biomedical Technician – $45,660
Medical Equipment Repairer – $45,660
Biomedical Equipment Technician – $45,660
Biomedical Electronics Technician – $45,660
Electronic Technician – $59,820

Industries
Aerospace, Automotive, Industrial Machinery, Consumer Electronic Products, Medical Equipment, Telecommunications, Photonics, Electronic Systems.

Tasks
Building, testing, installing, troubleshooting, programming, maintaining, calibrating, and repairing laser and optical systems.

Job Titles & Average Salaries
Photonics Technician – $61,580
Electro-Optical Technician – $61,580
Instrumentation Technician – $59,820
Engineering Technician – $59,820
Diagnostics Control Technician – $61,580

For more occupational resources, visit the following websites:

Career One Stop www.careeronestop.org/
O*NET OnLine
www.onetonline.org

Your future starts here. Browse a listing of colleges offering degree programs in laser and fiber optics.