FULLERTON : CSUF Wins Grant for Fiber Optics Lab
The National Science Foundation has awarded Cal State Fullerton $47,451 to equip a laboratory for undergraduate training and research in fiber optics and lasers.
It would be the first such project in California for undergraduate students, said Keith H. Wanser, an assistant professor of physics who sought the grant. Cal State Fullerton is matching the foundation’s grant, and an additional $30,000 is being sought from private industry.
“The University of Southern California has a center like this for graduate students, but there is nothing like this for the undergraduate,” Wanser said Wednesday. “It will give the students a . . . 20th-Century experience that will take them into the 21st Century.”
The major focus of study will be in high-speed communications and how to make fiber optic sensors.
“Fiber optics is going to be a very dominant thing in the future,” Wanser said.
Preparing Fullerton’s physics and engineering majors to work with the latest technology is essential, he said.
“Ninety percent of our graduates go straight into industry, and they need that lab experience with modern instrumention and equipment.”
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