As we wind down the year, this issue of OPN is of particular interest to me because it focuses on workforce development. We often talk about workforce needs in terms of hiring, skill gaps and recruitment, but, in reality, workforce development starts much earlier. It’s about mentoring, encouraging and creating opportunities for the next wave of scientists and engineers in the field of optics and photonics.

Mentors can appear anywhere and at unexpected moments. Teachers, coworkers or even someone you barely know can give you that golden piece of advice that helps you get to the next stage in your career. I was very lucky when I was deciding on a career path. A NASA engineer whom I did not know particularly well offered advice on choosing a degree that would incorporate my interests. It turned out to be the guidance I needed.

I continued to be fortunate throughout my education. During my master’s studies at the University of Central Florida in the early days of the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), Ron Phillips and Larry Andrews were great advisors. During my Ph.D. at Georgia Tech, I had another wonderful advisor in Bill Rhodes, along with numerous colleagues that I still connect with today.

Workforce development, however, is a strategy and requires investment. It cannot depend on good fortune alone. The investment can be as simple as supporting students’ attendance at meetings, creating opportunities for them to present their work, sponsoring competitions or special events, or just making time to offer guidance.

I had what I sometimes call an unfair advantage compared to my colleagues when I was recruiting new talent. While I was teaching at Georgia Tech, I was surrounded by (and successfully recruited) numerous outstanding students to work in my lab. Later, as general chair for the Optica Imaging Congress, I was able to secure corporate funding to support student events in which teams tackled a proposed problem and presented their solutions at the conference. This was fun, and a great opportunity for potential employers to recruit and evaluate workforce candidates.

So I would like to challenge Optica corporate members (and all of us across the optics and photonics community) to think creatively about how we can invest in the next generation of people entering our field. Each of us can contribute in different ways, including supporting the many programs, such as those supported by Optica and the Optica Foundation, that already help people early in their careers and beyond.

The future workforce is not something we recruit. It is something we build and nurture, and we each have a role to play in making that happen.

—Gisele Bennett,
Optica President