Gateway Provides Fiber Optics Training for Kentucky Instructors

Gateway Community & Technical College welcomed 12 instructors from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to a train the trainer event this past weekend. Participants left with training certifications from the Fiber Optic Association (FOA) which will allow them to bring fiber optic training to their electric and energy programs across the state.

This training is especially relevant to the announcement of KentuckyWired, a statewide,open-access fiber optic network which will deliver robust, reliable and affordable Internet to communities across the state through broadband technology.

Thanks to the work of Professor Collins and his team, we are pleased to offer education on the cutting edge of fiber optic installation in the state, said Dr. Vic Adams, interim president, Gateway Community & Technical College.

Gateway's Workforce Solutions and Professor Thomas Collins, through membership in the FOA, will deliver certification classes that will provide the infrastructure for fiber optic education. Collins, energy technologies professor at Gateway, has been a FOA board member for the past 15 years. He holds all the FOA certifications, including Master Instructor. Gateway Community & Technical College is a registered FOA school, authorized to offer certifications, training certifications and certification testing.

In addition to the train the trainer courses offered by Workforce Solutions, the Electrical and Energy Technology programs at Gateway have incorporated three certifications into their courses, FOA Certified Premises Cabling Technician (CPCT), FOA Certified Fiber Optic Technician (CFOT) and FOACertified Fiber Optic Specialist Outside Plant Installation (CFOS/O). In partnership with Cincinnati Bell, Gateway will soon offer Certified Fiber Optic Specialist Home installation (CFOS/H) certification, as well as the new certification program, Certified Fiber Optic Specialist Design (CFOS/D) which will be offered through Gateway Workforce Solutions.

The FOA is an international non-profit educational organization chartered to promote professionalism in fiber optics through education, certification and standards. Founded in 1995 by a dozen prominent fiber optics trainers and industry personnel as a professional society for fiber optics and a source of independent certification, the FOA provides:

• Standards for and administering technical certification programs
• Evaluation and approval of training schools
• Training and certification for instructors
• Technical information online
• Textbooks, courses and training programs to FOA-approved schools for their use
• Industry standards
• Free online web-based training programs through FiberU
• Promotion of fiber optics applications and education through participation in various industry forums

For more information about Gateway's Electrical Technology, Energy Technology programs or fiber optics education, contact Tom Collins at (859) 442-4106 or tom.collins@kctcs.edu.