Abstract
Canada has established itself as a leader in photonics. Ontario in particular - home of giants such as JDS Uniphase, Nortel Networks, GSI Lumonics and an increasing number of successful start-up companies - has seen the demand for highly-qualified personnel in photonics grow exponentially in the past few years. The scarcity of these photonics experts has become - recent market woes notwithstanding - the single most important impediment to the further growth of photonics companies. Nonetheless, it is mostly at the graduate school level that lasers and photonics are introduced to students, with only very few thus being trained in the field. Photonics Research Ontario has put together an aggressive plan to change this situation and present Optics, Lasers and Photonics at all levels in the education system, from grade school to graduate school. This paper will present this Photonics Education and Training plan, as well as other efforts being undertaken across Canada to address this crucial issue. The paper will focus especially on the training of Photonics Technicians and Technologists in Ontario's Community Colleges. The new curriculum designed for these programmes will be presented, and the importance of industry support will be emphasized.
© 2001 Optical Society of America
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