2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Skilling for and Acculturation to Integrated Photonics Industry Using VR Simulations, Game-Based Learning, and Augmented Reality Games

Presented at Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications in Manufacturing Education

The integrated photonics and fiber optics industries are rapidly expanding and innovating, respectively, to enable transformative new integrated circuit, AI, datacom, wireless, sensing and imaging systems for cloud and mobile computing, automobile and aircraft, display, medical, and energy industries. This 21st century advanced manufacturing sector is in dire need of a massive increase in its photonics engineer and technician workforce, over the next decade. To support this near-term workforce demand, a modular library of digital simulations (sims) and blended (digital and hands-on) learning content are needed to supplement current university or community college curricula, professional training workshops, and also nourish a K-12 pipeline of future industry talents.

A multi-university education research team led by MIT, Clemson University, and The University of Arizona, has completed an integrated photonics and fiber optics industry education roadmap, and created a mix of (i) desktop Virtual Reality (VR) tool-training sims, (ii) photonics device visualization sims, and (iii) application-focused educational games, for both online MOOC learning and blended learning in training bootcamps. In addition, (iv) an Augmented Reality Game (ARG) has been created for K-12 engagement. Collectively, these education assets can facilitate the upskill of photonics-adjacent industry incumbent and incipient workers; the reskill of legacy photonics industry incumbent workers; and acculturate a next-generation workforce to evolving photonics careers.

We review examples of (i)-(iii), including an optical fiber preform lathe and fiber draw tower sim; a photonic chip die bondersim; passive and active microphotonic device sims; and games that instruct in the operational trade-offs of photonics-enabled hyperscale data centers, on-chip chemical gas sensors, mmWave wireless drones, and LiDAR imaging vehicles. Such a cumulative curricular instruction is anticipated to fortify learner motivation by interconnecting the procedural skilling of manufacturing tools, with the scaffolding of photonics device function intuition, and constraint-analysis of complex real-world engineering systems. Results from summative A/B testing in a MOOC course and formative assessment interviews during a blended learning bootcamp demonstrate the capacity of these interactive digital tools to both enhance (technician and engineer-level) learner retention, and reduce the preparatory overhead and cognitive load of on-site instructors.

Early results from the testing of the ARG may indicate an engagement impact in K-12 introduction to integrated photonics, by highlighting causal links between the operation of complex photonics engineering systems and fundamental optics concepts, such as total internal reflection and light scattering. Collectively, these educational strategies suggest disruptive new methods to enhance interstitial learning experiences and sustain life-long learning practices for engineers and technicians pursuing microelectronics and integrated photonics careers.

Authors

Dr. Sajan Saini Massachusetts Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Sajan Saini received his doctoral degree in materials science at MIT in 2004, during which he investigated materials and device designs for optically pumped waveguide amplifiers in silicon microphotonics.

Sajan has worked with the MIT Microphotonics Center as a postdoctoral associate; he has also been a professor with the physics department at Queens College of CUNY (City University of New York), and lectured with the writing program at Princeton University. In addition to running a graduate research program on nanostructured materials, he has taught courses on photonics, introductory quantum physics, general astronomy, scientific writing, graphic novels and science-fiction, and climate science communications.

At AIM Academy, Sajan oversees the production of all teaching and learning materials, including online modules, certification courses, and summer academy offerings. He has taught at SPIE Photonics West, co-authored several patents, and his scientific and science writings have appeared in IEEE and APL publications, book chapters, and Harper’s Magazine.
Erik Verlage Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anuradha Murthy Agarwal
Drew Michael Weninger
Samuel Serna Otalvaro [biography]

BS, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medell√≠n, Colombia
MA, Friedrich Schieller University, Germany
MA, Paris-Sud University, Institute d‚ÄôOptique Graduate School, France
PhD, Paris-Saclay University, France

Dr. Serna received his degree in physics engineering from the National University of Colombia, Sede Medellin, in 2010 and a double master‚Äôs degree from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany, in photonics and the Institute d‚ÄôOptique Graduate School Paris, France, in optics, matter and plasmas‚Äù (Erasmus Mundus Master scholarship: Optics in Science & Technology -OpSciTech), in 2013. During these studies, he worked in digital in-line holography, diffractive optical elements and integrated photonic devices.

He earned his PhD in 2016 at the University of Paris Sud and was postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (C2N-Universit√© Paris-Sud-Universit√© Paris-Saclay) where he designed, fabricated and characterized passive silicon photonics structures and developed novel techniques to test and exploit their third order nonlinear susceptibilities. He was a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is explored novel hybrid devices in the integrated photonics platform for telecom and midIR functionalities. Dr. Serna and BSU are part of the LEAP network, bringing industry, government and academia together for the use of integrated photonics and optical technologies. Dr. Serna is an Assistant Professor at BSU since September 2019.

He is an OPTICA (OSA) Ambassador 2019 and a 2021 SPIE Career Lab Editorial member
Saif Rayyan
Dr. Glenda Simonton Stump http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6542-6393 Massachusetts Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Glenda Stump is an educator and education researcher whose career has spanned multiple disciplines. She currently works as an Education Research Scientist in the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this role, she is engaged in multiple international projects that include technology-enhanced STEM education and teacher professional development/faculty development. Dr Stump conducts research on motivation and pedagogic theory as well as teaching methods.
Trevor Morrisey Massachusetts Institute of Technology [biography]

Trevor Morrisey is a Software Developer working at MIT on interactive simulations, data visualizations, and serious games as part of the Virtual Manufacturing Lab project.
Christian Gabbianelli Massachusetts Institute of Technology [biography]

Christian Gabbianelli is a Software Developer working at MIT on interactive simulations, data visualizations, and serious games as part of the Virtual Manufacturing Lab project.
Ira Fay Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ms. Caitlin Feeley Massachusetts Institute of Technology [biography]

Caitlin Feeley designs and researches educational games and related technologies at MIT's Education Arcade. Her areas of interest include participatory narratives, Alternate Reality Games, museums and STEM topics, and financial education. She was the project manager and co-designer for Vanished, a multi-platform science mystery game/event co-developed with the Smithsonian. She also co-designed the award-winning financial literacy games Farm Blitz and Bite Club for Commonwealth, a national-nonprofit working to address financial inequity. Feeley was the 2016 Fellow in Museum Practice at the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, and holds a master’s degree in Technology, Innovation and Education from Harvard University.
Mr. Jeff Bertrand
Bhargav Vipul Upadhyay
Achint Jain
Richard Eberhardt Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Alan R. Kost University of Arizona [biography]

Research Professor of Optical Sciences
Dr. John Ballato Clemson University
Dr. Kapil Chalil Madathil http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8938-9793 Clemson University [biography]

Kapil Chalil Madathil holds the Wilfred P. Tiencken Endowed Professorship at Clemson University. His area of expertise is in applying the knowledge base of human factors to the design and operation of human-computer systems that involve rich interactions among people and technology. He draws on qualitative and quantitative methodologies including ethnography, contextual inquiry and controlled behavioral experiments to understand how humans perceive, make sense of, and interact with human-machine systems. He has been a principal investigator or co-investigator for more than 25 research grants and awards, generating more than $23 million in funding. His research work is funded by the United States National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, United States Department of Defense, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Department of Labor, National Institutes of Health and several other industry and state agencies. He teaches courses on human factors and ergonomics and graduate courses on accident analysis, human-centered system design and human-machine interaction. He is the Director of the Center for Workforce Development, a South Carolina Commission on Higher Education-approved, statewide initiative to improve workforce. He serves as the Associate Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. He is also the Associate Editor for Ergonomics in Design, and Program Chair for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s Computer Systems Technical Group, and a technical reviewer for 30 different journals.
Sri Priya Sundararajan
Kenan Cicek
Dominic Gastaldo
Judith Perry Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Eric Klopfer
Prof. Randolph E. Kirchain Jr. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Richard Roth Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Frank R. Field III Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Elizabeth Moore Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. George Westerman Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Prof. Lionel C. Kimerling Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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