Anderson Oconee Pickens

Light and Laser Camp Offered for Teens This Summer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/12/2005
CONTACT: EUGENE GRANT, 646-1825
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON --- A light and laser camp, offered free of charge by Tri-County Technical College, will open up a whole new world of career choices in light communication for teens this summer

The Light and Laser Camp is designed for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors (includes home school and private schools) and will be held June 13 - 17 at the College. Interested students must apply for the camp. Applications may be obtained from guidance counselors or from the Tri-County website (www.tctc.edu/laser.html). Applicants must write a one-paragraph essay and get a recommendation from one their teachers. Registration deadline is May 31. Twenty students will be chosen for the camp, which will acquaint students with photonics, the technology behind the fiber-optic cable that makes the Internet work. Photonics also produces the optical materials used in compact discs and DVDs.

A tour of Clemson University's Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET) will be on the week's agenda, along with a visit to Frankie's Fun Park in Greenville.

Several years ago, a $198,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to the SC Upstate Photonics (SCUP) Center enabled Tri-County, Greenville, and Spartanburg technical colleges and Clemson University to develop selected courses in support of photonics technician education. The Light and Laser Camp is sponsored by this grant.

This unique collaborative effort between the three Upstate technical colleges and the research university is the only partnership in the Southeast that partners a research university with a coalition of technical colleges for workforce development.

For more information, contact Eugene Grant at (864) 646-1825.