The care and feeding of a photonics technologist: Design as a goal of engineering technology education

The four-year Laser Optical Engineering Technology (LOET) program at Oregon Institute of Technology is described. The LOET graduate has accumulated over 400 hours in photonics laboratories, over 200 hours in electronics laboratories, and over 100 hours in a variety of other laboratories (manufacturing, physics, chemistry, and computer systems). Another critical factor in successfully transforming the entering freshman into a graduating photonics technologist is the evolution of the student´s skills in the laboratory. For the photonics student, this includes not only increasing sophistication in optics and laser laboratories, but also increasing competence with test and measurement equipment, electronics, hardware, and computer software. Finally, theory should be taught at levels that constantly challenge the students´ mathematical and analytical skills