LASER-TEC is the Center for Laser and Fiber Optics Education, founded in 2013 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and headquartered at Indian River State College in Florida. It was established to help meet the goals of educating and sourcing domestic talent in the areas of optics and photonics. As a service to students, recent graduates, and prospective employers, Photonics Spectra is running profiles of some of the 35 LASER-TEC colleges through 2020.
The state of Montana encompasses one of the densest per capita clusters of optics and photonics institutions in the U.S. To meet the ever-growing workforce demands of this local cluster — and of the nation overall — Gallatin College offers an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in photonics and laser technology to develop highly trained photonics and electro-optic technicians. 020.
