Photonics

Major Grant Expands ��Ƶ Photonics Program

HHARRIS@bridgew.edu — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:59:27 +0000

Major Grant Expands ��Ƶ Photonics Program HHARRIS@bridgew.edu Mon, 11/17/2025 - 13:59

Expanded labs will give students critical hands-on experience

November 18, 2025

Heather Harris Michonski

A new grant will give ��Ƶ students the chance to become leaders in the fast-evolving field of photonics, providing them with the necessary hands-on experience to move from the classroom to the forefront of the industry.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition Hub awarded ��Ƶ a $1.1 million grant to fund equipment for the school’s Visible Spectrum Characterization and Packaging Hub (VISPACK). The investment will expand ��Ƶ’s LEAP Labs with state-of-the art photonics packaging and testing capabilities.

According to ��Ƶ’s Physics Photonics and Optical Engineering Professor Samuel Serna Otalvaro, VISPACK will provide hands-on learning, particularly for students enrolled in the school’s photonics and optical engineering undergraduate program.

“We are bridging the gap between the classroom, lab, and companies,” Otalvaro said. “Our students will be a fundamental part of shaping the future of electronics and photonics…They will become key contributors in the photonics revolution.”

As photonics keeps gaining ground in becoming the go-to technology, the need for reliable packaging is growing fast, but the industry hasn’t quite caught up. The new VISPACK equipment will help create much needed packaging for new prototypes created not just at ��Ƶ, but in labs across the country.

“Packaging is fundamental,” Otalvaro said. “How do you get a prototype from a clean room into a cell phone? How do you protect it and isolate it from being compromised? Right now, there isn’t a facility in the United States that is adapting to the type of packaging needed.”

Instead of sending prototypes overseas, companies will be able to send them to ��Ƶ’s VISPACK, where researchers and students will use the new equipment to develop this crucial packaging.

Lightfinder, a Cambridge-based electrical equipment manufacturer, is collaborating with ��Ƶ on VISPACK. Their team will provide in-kind contributions that include engineering time, technical input during system integration, and sample devices for testing and validation.

“VISPACK helps both ��Ƶ and Lightfinder build a local bridge from education and research to manufacturing, strengthening the regional photonics ecosystem,” Otalvaro said.

��Ƶ Alumnus Matthew Baker, ’25, one of the first graduates of the university’s photonics and optical engineering program, now works at Lightfinder. He said the new grant and VISPACK project will be a major benefit to companies like his. Meanwhile, he added that giving startups like Lightfinder access to lab space at ��Ƶ benefits both the companies and the students.

“This really creates more opportunities for students who want to get a foothold in the industry,” Baker said.

It was his experience in the ��Ƶ lab that opened the door to a job at Lightfinder.

“The quality and amount of equipment ��Ƶ has are incredible, as well as the knowledge of the faculty,” he said. “This new project will give students even more hands-on experience while helping companies with emerging talent. It’s a great way to build a pipeline between the university and the industry.”

Do you have a ��Ƶ story to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu

This new project will give students even more hands-on experience while helping companies with emerging talent. It’s a great way to build a pipeline between the university and the industry.

Matthew Baker, '25

Tags

Photonics

Photo by Director of Photography for the Office of. Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll Joshua Qualls

Soaring to New Heights

BBENSON@bridgew.edu — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 19:44:22 +0000

Soaring to New Heights BBENSON@bridgew.edu Wed, 08/20/2025 - 15:44

Math major earns NASA grant, aims to break new ground in photonics

August 21, 2025

Brian Benson, G'23

Evaneida Fortes, ’26, G’27, has always enjoyed math because it allows her to flex her brainpower. As a ��Ƶ student, she realized how far her love of numbers could actually take her.

This summer, Evaneida is contributing to the development of devices that could one day be used by astronauts in space.

“This is an opportunity that I’m very grateful for,” said the first-generation math major who grew up in Cabo Verde and Fall River. “��Ƶ has allowed me to go for it and achieve things I never thought I would have achieved.”

With funding from the NASA Space Grant program, Evaneida is applying mathematical optimization and data analysis skills from her undergraduate courses to the design of integrated photonic devices. The devices would utilize particles of light called photons to help monitor astronaut health and study exoplanets, which are planets located outside our solar system.

Evaneida collaborates with Dr. Samuel Serna, an assistant professor of physics, photonics and optical engineering, and his students to understand how her computer-based modeling could play out in the real world. As she refines design algorithms to develop feasible concepts, Evaneida works with MIT material scientists to understand the extreme environments in which these devices must operate.

“I like problem solving and I like to be challenged,” she said. “Math can be applied in many different fields. I’m having so much fun doing that in this research.”

While Evaneida’s project is confined to a computer, she hopes to see the designs eventually built, potentially in collaboration with MIT scientists. The research also improves her coding and troubleshooting abilities, skills that will be invaluable as she eyes a career in data analysis.

Evaneida is also taking part in ��Ƶ’s 4+1 program, through which she can complete her bachelor’s degree while beginning her master’s degree in math. This allows students to count some courses toward both degrees and save time and money.

Outside of the classroom, Evaneida is a resident assistant for the honors living learning community, a position through which she mentors fellow honors students and introduces them to opportunities at ��Ƶ that she has found so valuable.

“Bridgewater State has helped me grow as a person,” she said. “It has helped me grow academically. It has made me feel a sense of belonging and that I can do anything I desire to do.”

Do you have a ��Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.

This is an opportunity that I’m very grateful for. ��Ƶ has allowed me to go for it and achieve things I never thought I would have achieved.

Evaneida Fortes, ’26, G’27

Tags

Undergraduate Research

Photonics

Honors Program

Student Spotlight

Graphic by Charlie Peters, G'20

Lab on Wheels

BBENSON@bridgew.edu — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:03 +0000

Lab on Wheels BBENSON@bridgew.edu Wed, 10/16/2024 - 16:15

Mobile lab brings photonics experience to students

October 17, 2024

Brian Benson, G'23

Photonics is revolutionizing technology, and about 150 students recently got an up-close look at an industry that could influence their careers no matter the degree they pursue.

The glimpse into cutting-edge research came when ��Ƶ hosted a mobile laboratory courtesy of Thorlabs, a prominent manufacturer of photonics equipment.

“It’s essential for people in our community to know what photonics is,” said Dr. Samuel Serna, assistant professor of physics, photonics and optical engineering. “The conversation is happening at the political level and every citizen should be aware.”

��Ƶ is already a leader in photonics education, having launched a bachelor’s degree in the rapidly growing field several years ago. Photonics uses particles of light called photons to improve technology for consumers and industries such as telecommunications, biomedical sensing and imaging, and autonomous vehicles.

The mobile lab, housed in a 30-foot trailer, offered introductory experiences for ��Ƶ students who are not majoring in photonics as well as students from Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School and Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School.

They explored how light interacts with water and sound and studied how white light is broken down into a spectrum of colors. The high school students also toured Bridgewater's photonics labs, an experience Serna hopes encourages some of them to study at ��Ƶ.

For photonics majors, Thorlabs offered an advanced look at biomedical optics and photonics’ role in enhancing imaging of the human body. This broadened their perspectives on how the principles they study at ��Ƶ can be used in real-world applications, Serna said.

“We wanted to give our students the opportunity to see something different (than what ��Ƶ faculty and students research),” he said.

Janelle Murphy, '27, a photonics and optical engineering and finance major, appreciated the opportunity to talk with professionals in the industry and learn how they use the concepts she studies at Bridgewater State.

"The photonics program at ��Ƶ is amazing," she said. "There are so many connections to industry and academics outside of ��Ƶ. There is really a perfect balance between learning in the classroom, research, and opportunities like seeing the Thorlabs truck where you can explore your passions in what is best for your desires and goals."

Thorlabs representatives left impressed by ��Ƶ’s facilities, which they said were comparable to what they would expect to see in a graduate program. That feedback was especially meaningful, Serna said.

“Thorlabs goes to graduate and undergraduate programs all over the country,” he said. “They have a perspective on what is state of the art.”

Do you have a ��Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.

The photonics program at ��Ƶ is amazing. ... There is really a perfect balance between learning in the classroom, research, and opportunities like seeing the Thorlabs truck where you can explore your passions in what is best for your desires and goals.

Janelle Murphy, '27

Tags

Photonics

Green Science

BBENSON@bridgew.edu — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 19:22:20 +0000

Green Science BBENSON@bridgew.edu Wed, 04/12/2023 - 15:22

Scientists team up with MIT to research sustainable microchip manufacturing

April 13, 2023

Brian Benson, G'23

When he was younger, Samuel Bechtold, ’24, would often walk Cape Cod beaches picking up trash. Sometimes he’d find cell phone chargers and electronic vaping devices – items that represent the tip of the iceberg in the growing environmental problem of electronic waste.

Now majoring in photonics and optical engineering at ��Ƶ, Bechtold is a research assistant on a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ��Ƶ seeking solutions.

“I’ve always thought about sustainability,” said Bechtold, a former chairperson of the Sierra Club’s Cape Cod chapter. “It’s nice to have a professional outlet here where I can also focus on that.”

The team, which is led by MIT and includes ��Ƶ Assistant Professor Samuel Serna as a co-principal investigator, is researching sustainable microchip manufacturing with funding from the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator program. The initiative puts interdisciplinary teams from across the country into a friendly competition to develop solutions to pressing societal problems.

As consumers seek the latest features in their electronic devices, they often throw away old models, contributing to the approximately 50 million (and growing) tons of e-waste generated in the world every year. That annual figure, according to a 2019 United Nations report, is greater than the combined weight of every commercial airplane ever built - and only 20 percent of the e-waste is recycled.

The MIT-��Ƶ team is working with industry and government stakeholders to find ways to increase energy efficiency and reduce e-waste. Photonics, which uses particles of light called photons to improve technology, can help lower a device’s energy use. The group also aims to explore methods for swapping out chips instead of throwing away an entire phone or computer.

“We want to train engineers to design for upgrades having in mind that it’s not a one-use device,” Dr. Serna said.

Education is an important component of the project. Serna introduces the issue to high school students who visit ��Ƶ. And he will teach a first-year seminar about sustainable microchip manufacturing in the fall. He hopes the course underscores the importance of incorporating sustainability in product design and manufacturing.

“We want to start that at the very beginning so as sophomores, juniors and seniors they have that already engrained,” Serna said.

In addition to completing administrative functions for the project, Bechtold helps MIT students use photonics lab equipment at ��Ƶ to test their devices. He’s also gaining a new perspective on engineering that incorporates his longstanding passion for environmentalism.

“It helps me to have a more holistic approach when I’m designing stuff,” he said. “I’ll look at the materials used in my design and see if I can find alternatives that are more sustainable and have more equitable manufacturing processes.”

Do you have a ��Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.

I’ve always thought about sustainability. It’s nice to have a professional outlet here where I can also focus on that.

Samuel Bechtold, ’24

Tags

Photonics

Sustainability

Photo by Zachary Allen, '24

Tech Team-Up

BBENSON@bridgew.edu — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 18:17:04 +0000

Tech Team-Up BBENSON@bridgew.edu Mon, 04/04/2022 - 14:17

��Ƶ and MIT join forces for photonics ‘bootcamp’

April 5, 2022

Brian Benson

Despite being new to the ��Ƶ campus, Peyton Brown, ’24, is already collaborating with students and researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study – and teach – the cutting-edge field of photonics.

“I did not think I’d be doing that my first year at Bridgewater,” said Peyton, a transfer student from Rochester, Michigan. “I didn’t think I’d be getting involved in research and labs so quickly.”

Peyton and Samuel Bechtold, ’23, who are enrolled in ��Ƶ’s new photonics and optical engineering major, helped lead the first collaborative photonics bootcamp hosted at MIT and ��Ƶ. The three-day event brought together faculty and students from several universities and industry representatives looking to network and expand their knowledge of photonics, reputed to be the next wave in technology.

Samuel, who is from Barnstable and transferred to ��Ƶ from Cape Cod Community College because of the photonics program, appreciated the exposure to advanced applications at the bootcamp.

Coming to ��Ƶ was, “a really good opportunity to get into a developing field for engineering,” he said. “It’s been a great experience.”

Photonics uses particles of light called photons to improve technology. The ensuing devices offer advantages over conventional electronics including increased bandwidth, more energy efficiency and less excess heat. Applications span a host of industries from telecommunications to automotive to gaming.

At the bootcamp, participants learned to assemble and test chips, worked with lasers, and attended lectures by leaders in the field. They studied how photonics and electronics can work together.

“It’s really been developed jointly,” said Dr. Anu Agarwal, principal research scientist in MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory. “We had students from MIT and ��Ƶ working closely together to build the curriculum for the bootcamp and decide what experiments to do and what tools were used.”

The bootcamp showcased the state-of-the art technology and lasers that Bridgewater students can access on campus. Dr. Yasaman Sargol, a research and development engineer at Wilmington-based Seurat Technologies, was impressed with what she saw and learned.

“I think it's good to learn from experts in the field and see all the capabilities they have,” said Sargol, whose company is developing 3D printers that use lasers. “Our company is a startup company, so we’re still learning.”

Bringing industry representatives to campus helps them see what ��Ƶ students learn, said Dr. Samuel Serna, an assistant professor of physics, photonics and optical engineering.

“They know they can rely on our students,” Serna said.

Do you have a ��Ƶ story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.

Coming to ��Ƶ was, “a really good opportunity to get into a developing field for engineering. It’s been a great experience.”

Samuel Bechtold, ’23

Tags

Photonics

Photonics

Major Grant Expands ������Ƶ Photonics Program

Soaring to New Heights

Lab on Wheels

Green Science

Tech Team-Up

Major Grant Expands ��Ƶ Photonics Program