optics tech examining lens

American Center for Optics Manufacturing

The Backbone of America’s Precision Optics Industry

Our Value

High precision optics are pervasive in the military – from night vision goggles for the infantry to hypersonic missiles.

Our national security is directly tied to the capacity of the optics industrial manufacturing base. AmeriCOM is America’s Center for Optics Manufacturing — a national effort to significantly build and sustain that base.

Our Mission

We are a Workforce Training Initiative and a Defense Precision Optics Consortium

Workforce Training Programs

Design and execute workforce training programs to support the increasing complexity and growing manufacturing requirements of the nation’s optics industry.

Optics Manufacturing Technologies

Develop advanced optic manufacturing technologies, testing equipment, and the specialized materials required to support scalable manufacturing.

Research-Driven Operations

Successfully transition mission-critical precision optics technologies from research into sustainable manufacturing operations — the most important measure of AmeriCOM’s success.

The AmeriCOM management model harnesses the resources of partners in industry, education, nonprofit, and government sectors in order to support the work of multiple optics ecosystems around the country. This coordinated effort will:

Identify and develop new manufacturing technologies

By assessing the current industrial base for gaps in the defense systems supply chain, we will create a roadmap of needs and deploy new manufacturing technologies.

Establish and maintain a national network of regional optics ecosystems

Based on the mature model in place at Monroe Community College, we will raise awareness of optics as a career path and recruit students into community college and apprenticeship programs.

Grow the number of high schools and two-year colleges offering precision optics programs

Supported by an industrial advisory board, we will build labs, set up a collaborative curricular clearinghouse, and recruit and train teachers.

 

The backbone of America’s precision optics industry.

A healthy manufacturing industrial base and resilient supply chains are essential to the economic strength and national security of the United States of America. AmeriCOM is America’s Center for Optics Manufacturing — a national effort to significantly build and sustain that base.