Niagara College Canada

Graduate Spotlight

Career satisfaction high for laser technology grad
By Brenda Missen

Ryan Glaves can't say he always had a passion for working with lasers. But once he heard about Niagara College's new diploma programs in photonics, and the potential career opportunities, he was keen to enrol.

In fact, Glaves, who graduated with Niagara's first class of Photonics Technologists in 2004, has never had to look for employment – employers have come looking for him. Only two years out of school and not yet 30, Glaves is well on his way to achieving his career goals in this burgeoning high-tech industry.

Glaves turned to Niagara College after realizing university wasn't for him. "I didn't like the whole university environment," he says of his two years in Guelph's science program. "It was large classes, with no practical experience whatsoever, and job prospects were slim to none. I like going into labs and getting my hands on equipment and building things."

Researching the industry after he heard about the new Niagara program, and learning of the shortage of skilled people, Glaves realized photonics was a field in which he could build a rewarding career. "I chose something where I was guaranteed good job placement and where I could specialize and grow professionally."

Niagara College is, in fact, at the forefront of creating the highly-qualified workforce the industry needs: it is only one of two colleges offering photonics education in Canada. In 2004, the College also began offering a four-year Bachelor of Applied Technology (Photonics) degree.

Glaves admits that when he started the course he didn't know that much about photonics – the technology of harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy for many different applications, from lasers to life sciences. "It was kind of funny because even when I started I wasn't too sure about it. But as I learned more I began to enjoy what I was learning, and I worked harder.

"The program," he adds,"was very challenging and our class very competitive. But we encouraged each other and studied together."

The hard work paid off. Before the three-year course was finished, companies were lined up to interview Glaves and his classmates for jobs. Glaves had employment arranged – with Laservall in Rhode Island – before he even graduated. "There are so many companies that require the specialized skills they teach in this program," he says. "It made us very valuable."

That value is reflected even more in the fact that Glaves is now with his third employer in two years. He is, as he puts it a "commodity" in the industry, and companies are approaching him with ever-more attractive offers. After only one year as an applications engineer with Laservall, Glaves was approached by Toronto-based Innova Medical Opthalmics to do product support and clinical applications for laser eye-vision surgeries. Six months later, he was headhunted to work for Virtek Laser Systems, his current employer.

Virtek, a provider of laser marking and engraving solutions for customers in industries from automotive to the military, was looking for a team for its new operations in Waterloo. While Glaves didn't have the requisite number of years of experience, the company couldn't bypass his level and range of skills. He was hired as the company's Applications and Training Manager in February 2006.

For Glaves, the job offered an important move up into management. Today, his responsibilities are to implement an infrastructure for laser applications and customer training, as well as to choose the appropriate equipment for customers. He also designs the training curriculum for software, applications, hardware and servicing, and teaches the courses.

The training courses Glaves designs are, in accordance with his own learning philosophy, 50 percent hands on. As he says, "Hands-on experience is important – people learn a lot more and enjoy what they're learning more. That's one thing I learned at college. My own experience at Niagara really helped out with my training philosophy."

Glaves also credits Niagara with giving him many of the other skills and strengths he employs in his job today: communicating effectively with salespeople and customers, working both independently and in a team, and being productive in a high-pressure environment, where multi-tasking is crucial for meeting deadlines. "At college you're learning those skills in a practical environment, just like industry. You don't even realize all the things you've learned until you start applying them in your career. You hit the job running."

His instructors had a major influence as well, including Roger Stouck, who made the challenging subject of math a pleasure; Alex McGlashan, who was a valuable resource for such things as industry contacts and equipment; and Mark Csele, whom Glaves describes as the "laser guru of Niagara College."

Csele remembers Glaves as one of the enthusiastic pioneers of the first class. "Like explorers charting some new territory, these people dove right into photonics with some sort of leap of faith and an enthusiasm we just don't usually see. Ryan was one of those pioneers. He did well in laboratory work – one of the pillars of our program."

Glaves' career has already given him many opportunities for travel: in just two years he's been to 20 countries, including nearly a month in Japan for product training and development work on laser sources.

His experience in Japan left an indelible impression. "It's one of the most interesting trips I've been on. The whole way of life is one hundred and eighty degrees different from ours. Through my travels and seeing things around the world, I appreciate the little things in life more now."

Glaves has his professional sights set on becoming a product development manager for a laser company. "That's not too far off," he says.

He speaks with the confidence of a recent graduate who is already in management, in an industry that can be compared with computer technology in its potential for revolutionary growth and evolution.

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Contact Information

Ryan S. Glaves
Laser Applications & Training Manager
Virtek Laser Systems-Foba North America
785 Bridge Street
Waterloo, ON Canada N2V 2K1
Web: www.virtek.ca