In addition to its long-standing commitment to education in electro-optics (EO) demonstrated by its graduate degree programs, the university's Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) and Physics are now integrating EO fully into the undergraduate curriculum. To this end the Physics Department and the ECE Undergraduate Studies Committee are developing an EO Concentration exclusively for ECE and Physics majors. The concentration is in many ways similar to a minor degree program pursued within one's own major department and is indicated on a student's official transcript upon graduation. The structure of the undergraduate EO Concentration requires students to take four EO-related technical electives. These courses are in the areas of Fiber Optics, Linear Systems in Optics, Optoelectronics, and Physical Optics. Though the Physical Optics course focuses on basic principles, the remaining courses are more practice oriented. This project develops a dedicated Undergraduate Photonics Laboratory to support the design, demonstration, and experimentation components of the ECE technical electives composing the heart of the new undergraduate EO Concentration. The Undergraduate Photonics Laboratory stimulates strong interest in undergraduate research and furthers the efforts of the Women in Engineering Program. Another program potentially to be benefited by the Undergraduate Photonics Laboratory is the Get Smart program. Lastly, there are approximately 86 companies within Ohio that regularly hire employees with EO backgrounds. The new undergraduate EO concentration makes students more attractive to these companies as both co-op and, upon graduation, full-time employees. *
