IMSA/FOA Certified Fiber Optic Technician

General Description: This three-day classroom and hands-on lab covers the knowledge and skills needed by fiber optic technicians involved in the design, installation or operation of fiber optic networks used in transportation, fire alarm, communications, video and municipal applications.

Purpose: Requirements for today’s fiber optic networks have become more complex than ever and the demand for qualified persons who have the knowledge to install, operate, maintain and test them is growing at an unprecedented rate. Because of the complexity of today’s fiber networks, proper training is a necessity for technicians to do their job effectively.

Target Audience: This certification program is intended for practitioners that are directly or indirectly involved with the installation, maintenance or design of intelligent transportation systems, traffic control, fire alarm, communications, video, municipal, specialized protocols or any other fiber related networks or programs.

Course Specifics:  Introduction to fiber optics; How fiber optics is used for communications with an emphasis on metropolitan networks and intelligent highway systems; How fiber optic links and networks work; Components used in a fiber optic cable plant (Optical fiber types and applications, Fiber optic cables, Fiber optic splices, Fiber optic terminations, Cable plant installation hardware); Testing fiber optic components and cable plants; Designing fiber optic networks; Installing fiber optic networksMore than 50% of class time is devoted to hands on labs that include Hands-on cable preparation and pulling (how cables are pulled and prepared for splicing and termination); Hands-On Terminations (how to install connectors on fiber optic cables using splice-on connectors, testing patch cord connectors made in the lab); Hands-On Splicing (Splicing fiber optic cables with fusion and/or mechanical splices, installing splices in splice closures, testing splices with OTDR); Hands-On Fiber Optic Testing & Troubleshooting (proper use of fiber optic test equipment, testing cables, connectors, splices and network equipment, troubleshooting and fault location)

Prerequisites:  Included in the IMSA/FOA CFOT program, students will also be required to take an online self-study program on FOA’s Fiber U online training website. In this self-study program, students will be introduced to the basics of fiber optics, components, installation and testing. Studying these online before hand allows the classroom time to be minimized and lab time maximized.