Southern College of Technology is adding an Automated Lightwave Component Analysis System at its campus in Marietta, GA. This new instrumentation system represents a major addition to the Wilder Communications Center. The Automated Lightwave Component Analysis System gives the 1100 undergraduate students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology department access to the latest in computer-controlled test instrumentation that is equivalent to that used in the lightwave communications industry. Southern Tech's students use the system to study, in great detail, the performance of virtually any transmitter or receiver used in modern fiberoptic voice, data and video communications systems throughout the world. Their studies include analysis of high-speed and high- power semiconductor lasers and of very sensitive photodiodes. In addition, the lightwave analysis instrumentation allows the students to completely characterize the end-to-end performance of entire fiberoptic systems including those designed and built as projects by the students themselves.
