Student Experience
The Photonics and Laser technology-PLT program at a glance
- Covering the absolute latest technology in the industry.
- Extremely high industry demand means graduating straight into a career.
- All aspects of light-based technologies covered, from communication to sensors and everything in between
- State-of-the-Art labs, with the latest industry-standard software and dedicated optical, microelectronic and photonic equipment.
- Students gain critical hands on skills and theory in optical networks, laser, sensors that get students job ready, while training them for a career.
- A unique partnership between Carleton University and Algonquin College integrates from day-one.
- Graduate with both a Bachelor’s Degree & an Advanced Diploma; you can even add a Minor.
- Cooperative Education available at major companies locally in Ottawa and across Canada
- Final year of the program includes an intensive photonics research project often linked to an industry partner.
- Job prospects are growing in Ontario and also in Canada as a whole (our graduates have also found related work in the USA, Europe, Africa and Asia).
Photonics and Laser Technology has impacted virtually all segments of society and industry, from the way we communicate, harness energy from the sun, manufacture things, measure things (including many important new medical instruments and laser-based therapies) and finally entertain ourselves with colourful displays in all sizes and shapes.
Check out the new Bachelor of Information Technology – Photonics and Laser Technology program offered in conjunction with Carlet
on University located in Ottawa, Canada. For more information about this exciting new program click here.
The growth of these diverse, but linked, optical technology based areas is inevitable and will require broadly trained professionals able to contribute to the evolution of the industry. The training required involves both a solid grounding in theory as well as a considerable level of experience in relevant hands on skills.
The electronics industry, just one of the sectors dramatically affected by the growth of photonics, has previously been the driver of communication. This area has been largely and increasingly, superseded by a combination of fibre optic and wireless communication, and this shift in technology is expanding as the sharing of information increases.
Algonquin College is one of only two colleges in Ontario offering photonics education, while photonics graduates are in demand in Ontario and beyond. Our graduates seek employment in biotech, fibre optics & telecommunications, optics, laser and space technology industries.
Algonquin Photonics Labs, Equipment & Capabilities Overview
The Photonics and Global Needs
Because Photonics applications are everywhere, the focus is around the following major Photonics areas of Global Needs where rapid change and breakthroughs are taking place:
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- Information Technology and Telecommunications;
- Health Care and the Life Sciences;
- Optical Sensing, Lighting, and Energy;
- Industrial Manufacturing;
- National Defense;
- Aerospace, Aviation and Transportation;
- Construction and Metrology;
- Manufacturing of Optical Components and Systems; and
- Research and Education.
Labs
Advanced Optics & Laser Lab Virtual Tour
Optics & Imaging Lab Virtual Tour
Career Opportunities
Every area of modern life is affected by photonics, the science of generating and harnessing light. Increase your marketability by gaining photonics expertise.
Graduates of this innovative program are prepared for careers in these areas and more:
- Optical Network Designer
- Optical Network Operator
- Optical Network Engineer
- Optical Assembly Engineer
- Lidar Analyst
- Product Engineer, Photonics
- Opto-Mechanical Design Engineer
- R&D Photonics Engineer
- Micro-Optics Engineer
- Optical Network Tester
- Photonics Software Technologist
- Electrical and Photonics Engineer
- Photonics Card Software Developer
- Photonics Specialist
- Fiber Component Designer
- Optics and Photonics Researcher
- Digital/Photonics Solutions Specialist
- Optical Technologies Specialist
- Quantum Photonics Engineer
- Photonics R&D Technologist
- Electro-Optical Designer
- Photonics and Electro-Optical Engineer
- Photonics Design Specialist
- Photonics Designer
- Optical Transmission Specialist
- Silicon Photonics Designer
- Photonics Scientist
- Image Processing Specialist
- Computer Vision Engineer
- Lidar Technician
- Laser Installation and Service Engineer
- Optical Sensor Integration Specialist
- Fiber Sensor Designer
- Optical Internet Security Researcher
- Holographic technologist
- Optical hardware designer