Which city in US has most optics or optical engineering jobs?
Tucson, Arizona [Poster Child] Dr. Shibin Jiang knew he was in the right place when he moved to Tucson to work at the University of Arizona’s Optical Sciences Center in 1996. It was a big change from North Carolina (especially the weather), but the work was too appealing. “We call Tucson ‘Optics Valley,’ ” he says. “If you’re an optical engineer, it’s the best place in the country to be.” By 1998, Jiang, now 40, had cofounded NP Photonics, a company that makes advanced fiber-optical lasers used by the Department of Defense and scientific researchers to monitor conditions deep beneath the sea. As for the weather, it’s now one of Jiang’s favorite parts of life in the Southwest. “I travel to the DC area a lot, and it’ll be snowing and raining and cold,” he says. “When I get on the plane back to Tucson, I’m so glad to come home.” -LC Sources: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/100/open_fast-cities.
