With its first class ready to graduate, Yuba College (Marysville, CA) will hold an open house for potential employers on April 15. Employers will be able to conduct interviews with 20 students on the verge of completing the new, one-year laser optics program at Yuba.
The program, coordinated by the Laser and Electro-Optics Manufacturers' Association (LEOMA; Pacifica, CA), was founded to combat a shortage of workers in the optics industry. The students have studied basic optics and machine-shop techniques and are required to become proficient at grinding and polishing glass substrates.
"The students in this class are highly motivated," said instructor Gordon Soekland. "They've given up their Friday and Saturday nights for 34 weeks to participate in this course, and now they're ready to get out there and go to work." Underwriting for the program was provided by Spectra-Physics Lasers (Mountain View, CA) and Coherent (Santa Clara, CA), and a number of companies contributed equipment. For information on the program or the open house, contact Breck Hitz at LEOMA at [email protected].