Undergraduate Fiber Optics and Communications for Engineering Technology is designed to introduce 30 faculty members from community and undergraduate colleges to this expanding technology. Two one-week seminars/workshops are planned for June 1996. The program is a collaborative effort involving three community colleges in the Boston, MA area and one four-year technical college. During the first week, 15 faculty will be offered 40 hours of training, half of which will be in the fiber optic laboratory at Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the remaining 20 hours will consist of lectures, simulation and analysis using computers. Involvement by industry is integral to the program. The laboratory exercises allow participants to handle optical fibers and a number of specialized instrumentation and test equipment developed specifically for fiber optics. The basics, uses, and applications of fiber optics will be emphasized, especially as they relate to engineering technology education at the two- and four-year level. In the selection process, women, minorities and those faculty who intend to introduce/enhance fiber optic instruction at their home institutions will receive priority. No prior knowledge of fiber optics or communications technology is required. A follow-up one-week session is proposed for the summer of 1997.
