Optics are everywhere

We live in a time where your comfort hobbies that strengthen hand-eye coordination can make an impact on the world by manufacturing products like self-driving cars, streaming services you can’t quit, and car chips that are impossible to get right now—all because of the Optics industry. And most people don’t even know that it exists!

No surprise: There’s a national shortage of Optics Technicians. Imagine being the person behind manufacturing precise Optical components out of glass blocks. The reason why we have backup cameras all the way to the medical scopes that detect cancer in our loved ones.

Optics Technicians are the ones who helped create the Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) for NASA’s James Webb Outer Space Telescope. They also fabricate the Optical components used in aircraft and night-vision goggles that protect soldiers in the field every day. It’s a booming industry that’s not slowing down anytime soon or going anywhere.

Everyone’s career path is different; there’s no one way to enter the field. The goal is to increase the pipeline of Optics Technicians across the country with a growing number of community colleges offering a variety of training programs.

That pipeline should look like the world we live in—a melting pot full of people with different backgrounds, vocations, and levels of expertise, all working in a stable industry they’re passionate about.

Now is the time to make a difference. Join an Optics program!

Who are Optics Technicians?

Anyone with strong hand-eye coordination, attention to detail, and a good work ethic are fit for a career in Optics. The field is an integral part of our everyday lives, and we don’t even notice it. From medicine to defense, becoming an Optics Technician provides a satisfying and ever-growing career path.

​​Optics Technicians fabricate, assemble, and install Optical components into devices such as eyeglasses. But it’s so much more than that! We’re talking telescopes, microscopes, aerial cameras, and grocery scanners. With this skill set, you’ll be in demand for a secure, competitive-paying job!

AmeriCOM Partnerships

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) launched the National Imperative for Industrial Skills initiative to address the growing loss of skilled technicians across the manufacturing sector of the United States. As part of the initiative, the DoD selected AmeriCOM–the American Center for Optics Manufacturing–to significantly build the precision Optics manufacturing base and sustain it with a new generation of skilled technicians.

We focus on workforce development, supply chain stability, and manufacturing innovation in the precision Optics industry. Our Optics Technician and Career Path Development Ecosystem and the Defense Precision Optics Consortium (DPOC) coordinate the resources of partners in industry, education, nonprofit, and government sectors to establish and maintain a national network of regional Optics “ecosystems” that bring together colleges, manufacturers, and nonprofit and government agencies.