LASER-TEC and NSF Assist Puerto Rico Photonics Institute to Recover from Hurricane Maria - February 9, 2018
Hurricane Maria desolated the island of Puerto Rico, and left many people without homes, power, or access to fresh water. Strong winds and flooding destroyed critical infrastructure and most communication lines. The city of San Juan, home to the Puerto Rico Photonics Institute (PRPI) at the Universidad Metropolitana, was no exception. Despite the devastation, the PRPI Laser and Photonics Certificate program courses restarted in late October of this year. However, the Institute struggled with placing students in the Industry Technical Internship program due to economic challenges currently present on the island.
LASER-TEC with the support of the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education program offered stipends for students in need, allowing them to pursue the eight-week internship requirement of the program, and finish their certificate on time. The students will be working for local fiber optics companies to gain valuable hands-on experience and help restore the telecommunication systems of Puerto Rico. The stipends will cover students’ wages, cost of living, and transportation during the length of the internship.
The Universidad Metropolitana runs a Technical Specialist in Lasers and Photonics Certificate program, funded by a US Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant. This program requires an 8-week industry internship for the students, which, following the hurricane, was difficult to initiate due to the extreme workloads incurred by companies in order to recover from heavy damage. Once NSF agreed to support the internships through LASER-TEC, we redoubled our efforts to communicate with local companies. Two, Critical Hub Networks in San Juan and Amphenol Sensors in Añasco, expressed interest. In the end, two PRPI students were placed in internships at Critical Hub. The third student, due to communications and hurricane recovery difficulties, did not start his internship at Amphenol. We anticipate he will intern starting in April-May.
Our students at Critical Hub had unique experiences from being on the “front lines” of rebuilding San Juan’s communications infrastructure. As a result, they had both broad and deep experience, reconstructing network backbones as well as installing “fiberhoods”. The work, almost exclusively with fiber optics, included repairing and replacing damaged fibers, installing network infrastructure, and restoring point-to-point connections (via radio links).
The situation for PRPI is slowly improving. There was an important step forward on December 30, when power was restored to its laboratory building. At the time of this writing, contractors have not yet begun to clean the building. Drywall and air conditioning ducts are contaminated with fungus and will have to be thoroughly cleaned to re-establish a safe working environment. PRPI staff have completed an initial inspection of the laboratory and restarted dehumidifiers. Although there is much work to be done, it appears that all of our equipment and supplies that were covered by plastic tarps are clean and undamaged. Once the air conditioning is back on, they have to carefully inspect the laser optics and other sensitive systems and components. As for the status of Puerto Rico, the situation is still quite delicate. On January 17 (nearly four months after the hurricane), only 63.5% of Puerto Rican homes have electrical power, about 20% of hotels are closed, approximately 250,000 people have left, either temporarily or permanently, to live on the mainland, mostly going to Florida, Texas, New York and New Jersey.
LASER-TEC is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence in Lasers and Fiber Optics and is headquartered at Indian River State College, in Fort Pierce, Florida. It is an association of community and state colleges, universities, K-12 schools and technical centers, trade associations, and laser and fiber optic (LFO) companies. The Center’s mission is to develop a sustainable pipeline of qualified laser and fiber optic technicians to meet industry needs. For more information about LASER-TEC please contact Dr. Chrys Panayiotou, Executive Director at cpanayio@irsc.edu or 772-462-7621.
PRPI is an initiative of the School of Science and Technology at the Universidad Metropolitana, part of the Ana G. Mendez University System in Cupey, PR. PRPI is the only institute dedicated to education, research, training and outreach in the field of optics and photonics in the Caribbean. For more information about PRPI, please contact Dr. Jonathan Friedman, Director, at jsfriedman@suagm.edu or 787-766-1717 x6617.
LASER-TEC with the support of the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education program offered stipends for students in need, allowing them to pursue the eight-week internship requirement of the program, and finish their certificate on time. The students will be working for local fiber optics companies to gain valuable hands-on experience and help restore the telecommunication systems of Puerto Rico. The stipends will cover students’ wages, cost of living, and transportation during the length of the internship.
The Universidad Metropolitana runs a Technical Specialist in Lasers and Photonics Certificate program, funded by a US Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant. This program requires an 8-week industry internship for the students, which, following the hurricane, was difficult to initiate due to the extreme workloads incurred by companies in order to recover from heavy damage. Once NSF agreed to support the internships through LASER-TEC, we redoubled our efforts to communicate with local companies. Two, Critical Hub Networks in San Juan and Amphenol Sensors in Añasco, expressed interest. In the end, two PRPI students were placed in internships at Critical Hub. The third student, due to communications and hurricane recovery difficulties, did not start his internship at Amphenol. We anticipate he will intern starting in April-May.
Our students at Critical Hub had unique experiences from being on the “front lines” of rebuilding San Juan’s communications infrastructure. As a result, they had both broad and deep experience, reconstructing network backbones as well as installing “fiberhoods”. The work, almost exclusively with fiber optics, included repairing and replacing damaged fibers, installing network infrastructure, and restoring point-to-point connections (via radio links).
The situation for PRPI is slowly improving. There was an important step forward on December 30, when power was restored to its laboratory building. At the time of this writing, contractors have not yet begun to clean the building. Drywall and air conditioning ducts are contaminated with fungus and will have to be thoroughly cleaned to re-establish a safe working environment. PRPI staff have completed an initial inspection of the laboratory and restarted dehumidifiers. Although there is much work to be done, it appears that all of our equipment and supplies that were covered by plastic tarps are clean and undamaged. Once the air conditioning is back on, they have to carefully inspect the laser optics and other sensitive systems and components. As for the status of Puerto Rico, the situation is still quite delicate. On January 17 (nearly four months after the hurricane), only 63.5% of Puerto Rican homes have electrical power, about 20% of hotels are closed, approximately 250,000 people have left, either temporarily or permanently, to live on the mainland, mostly going to Florida, Texas, New York and New Jersey.
LASER-TEC is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence in Lasers and Fiber Optics and is headquartered at Indian River State College, in Fort Pierce, Florida. It is an association of community and state colleges, universities, K-12 schools and technical centers, trade associations, and laser and fiber optic (LFO) companies. The Center’s mission is to develop a sustainable pipeline of qualified laser and fiber optic technicians to meet industry needs. For more information about LASER-TEC please contact Dr. Chrys Panayiotou, Executive Director at cpanayio@irsc.edu or 772-462-7621.
PRPI is an initiative of the School of Science and Technology at the Universidad Metropolitana, part of the Ana G. Mendez University System in Cupey, PR. PRPI is the only institute dedicated to education, research, training and outreach in the field of optics and photonics in the Caribbean. For more information about PRPI, please contact Dr. Jonathan Friedman, Director, at jsfriedman@suagm.edu or 787-766-1717 x6617.
