Have you ever wondered if the skills you bring to your comfort hobbies – like hand-eye coordination and attention to detail – could be put to use in ways that make an impact on the world? People who manufacture products like self-driving cars, who enable the streaming services we enjoy, and who make the chips (the brains inside the devices we utilize every day) are doing that right now. These are the people working in the Optics industry – a growing field that most people don’t even know exists!

Imagine being the person behind the manufacturing of precision components made out of glass. These devices, driven by Optics technologies, are the reason why we have backup cameras in our cars and medical scopes to detect cancer in our loved ones.

It makes sense that Optics Technicians are in high demand. They are the center of a booming industry that’s not slowing down anytime soon or going anywhere.

Now is the time to make a difference. Join an Optics Technician training program and build a purposeful career.

Anyone with strong hand-eye coordination, attention to detail, and a good work ethic are fit for a career in Optics. ​​Technicians fabricate, assemble, and install Optical components into devices like aerial cameras, grocery scanners, and so much more. With this skill set, you’ll be in demand for a secure, competitive-paying job!

Everyone’s career path to becoming an Optics Technician is different; there’s no one way to enter the field. Right now, the goal is to increase the employment pipeline 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.

Optics is more than just a job, it’s a career you can grow into and evolve with over time. Technicians have the opportunity to work with scientists and engineers in research, development, design, manufacturing, and quality control as they manufacture the Optical components that power the devices we all use every day.

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.

AmeriCOM focuses 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.