This college has over 1,200 students in the engineering technologies and about 200 in engineering science. This department is upgrading the modern optics component of the appropriate courses by introducing current instrumentation for the study of lasers. Through laboratory experiments, students gain an understanding of the principles and measurement techniques involved in the study and use of lasers. The pedagogical format is that of a traditional laboratory, with careful prototyping leading to writeups that ensure maximum learning by the students. The laboratory centers around the principles of lasers and signal transmission. The use of Ti:Sapphire and Diode lasers affords the students the unique opportunity to study these principles while working with state-of-the-art technology. Laboratory exercises on the modulation and demodulation of signals for fiber-optic communication, and on the acousto-optic and electro-optic modulation, are combined with existing laboratories to complete the set of photonics laboratories applicable to both engineering and technology students. The particular laboratories developed under this program should provide a model for other laboratories on the principles of lasers and their application.
