ECE Students Experience the Business behind the Photonics Industry

Dr. Rosalind Wynne, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, recently helped students from her “Introduction to Opto-Electronics” class see how their lessons from the classroom take shape in the real world. The group took a behind-the-scenes tour of Avo Photonics, an opto-electronics firm in Horsham, PA.

Avo Photonics specializes in design, production, and manufacturing services of opto-electronic assemblies and products to customers in the military, commercial, medical, telecom, commercial, and industrial markets.

“The tour helped give my students new perspective about the commercial aspect of opto-electronics. It was extremely informative and useful for them,” says Dr. Wynne. “I look forward to the potential of establishing a closer relationship between the College of Engineering and Avo through joint research, grants, and student internships.”

During the visit, the students interacted with Dr. Joseph Dallas, president of Avo Photonics and Villanova alumnus (Dr. Dallas earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1985). After a short presentation, they were suited in clean room garments and entered the company’s precision clean manufacturing facility for an up-close look at Avo’s opto-electronics production and manufacturing processes. The interactive tour was led by Dr. Dallas and supported by a two additional Villanova alumni: Kim Wheeler VSB ’88 (B.S. in Finance), Director of Finance, and Ryan Ehid ME ’09, MSME ’10, Mechanical Engineer.