The sum is only as great as its parts, and that’s as true for Lockheed Martin Corp's Javelin guided missile system. Here in Orlando, Lockheed (NYSE: LMT) manufactures electro-optical sensors for the Javelin that among other things, track targets. To make those, the company needs people.
Technicians with the skills to do the work can be hard to come by, according to Brad Argentine, senior manufacturing manager at Lockheed. Argentine runs the company’s optical components center on Sand Lake Road.
“We've had the desire to start a precision optics course for the last few years,” he said. “That's something that only exists in very few places, none of them in Florida.”
Why optics education matters for Orlando
Trained optics technicians are essential in the region. Without them, optics businesses can’t grow. A Global Market Insights report said the electro optical systems market size was valued at $12.6 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 5.5% between 2023 and 2032. Electro optics involves components and electronic devices such as lasers and laser diodes. With all that growth, a steady source of workers is key.
Mark Palvino, vice president of global sales with Orlando-based LightPath Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: LPTH), told OBJ that one of the company's challenges in growth is workforce development and having manufacturing or inspection technicians with an understanding of optics.
Thanks to a longtime relationship with Valencia College, Lockheed partnered with the Orlando-based state college to develop a 15-week program to train students in optics fabrication, optical assembly, photonics and fiber optics.
Leaders from Valencia, Lockheed and ten other area companies and organizations with similar needs have been collaborating to make sure the program meets their needs, so graduates can walk into jobs fully prepared. The resulting program launches Oct. 23, and the deadline for enrollment is Oct. 9. Upon completing the program, graduates are eligible for national certifications for the industry.
Orlando Business Journal sat down with Argentine to learn what the company put into the program and what it hopes to get out of it.
What work do your optics technicians contribute to?
We specialize in sensors here at this particular facility. We're building optics that go into a lot of Lockheed Martin products like targeting pods or sensors, aircraft sensors that utilize precision optics. Some missile systems use precision optics, so they're within the guidance section of those missiles. And then there's a lot of stuff that we'll be working on in the future with high energy lasers that use precision optics.
Until now, how did you find optics technicians to work in your optical components center?
Our hiring has been mostly from other industries — tangent industries — and then trying to upskill them here in house. We have about 120 optics positions in our optical components center.
How much of a role has Lockheed played in creating the Valencia program?
We’ve been working with them on it for a year and a half, us and a handful of folks from other optics companies all going to Valencia West Campus and taking part in a curriculum development process. We started just writing out what it would take to create a program like this. What are the things that we need from an industry standpoint? What are the things that Valencia would need to invest in from a capital equipment technology standpoint to create a useful program? And so we chartered that all out.
A lab was built for this program. Valencia was able to secure funding through Americom to purchase equipment, the same machines we use in our optical components center. There's going to be quite a bit of hands-on training. The coursework will be theoretical and practical, they'll be manufacturing basically their own lenses. We want students to come out of that course knowing how to operate the equipment and knowing not just how to make the lens but also how to measure the lens to confirm that it meets the drawing requirement.
Five or six of our engineers are going to be adjunct professors within this program, teaching at night or on the weekends.
Why do you think Central Florida is a hub for the optics industry?
Central Florida has been growing in technology roles quite a bit. I think the history is just here with Lockheed and a few other smaller companies that have come out of the defense industry or similar industries.
The other big driver would be the UCF College of Optics & Photonics. Some companies have come out of that. That’s a little bit more on the photonics side, but it's very similar. With our industrial base and the school, about 20 or so Central Florida companies have a need that can be satisfied by this Valencia program.
More about Valencia College’s optics and photonics technician program
Advisory board members for the Precision Optics, Photonics and Fiber Optics Technician program include stakeholders from Beam Engineering, UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics, Critical Frequency, Chronos Photonics, Edmund Optics, Jenoptik, LightPath, Lockheed Martin, Luminar, Ocean Insights and Raytheon — representing a range of industries that rely on optics and photonics to do business.
"The Valencia College program will provide us and others with a talent pool that will help accelerate the learning curve and help address the demand that we have for these positions," said Mark Palvino, vice president of global sales with LightPath.
Valencia College spokeswoman Linda Shrieves told Orlando Business Journal that the ideal cohort will be 15 students for each 15-week period to start and that the school will aim to train 45 people in the first year.
Ryan Lynch contributed to the reporting for this article.
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