From big lasers to small lasers: How Ciena helped Algonquin College build the only lab of its kind in the world

Ciena Optophotonics LabPhotonics, light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation and electronics, is a multi-trillion-dollar industry, used in a huge number of applications of our daily life in areas as diverse as communications, defense, manufacturing, entertainment, consumer equipment, aviation, agriculture, life sciences, and medicine. Algonquin College is home to the only photonics lab of its kind in the world – all thanks to a substantial upgrade and sponsorship donated by Ciena.

Before the latest iteration of the Ciena Optophotonics Lab, it had a capacity of 2.5 gigabit per second (Gbit/s). With the upgrade, the lab can transmit data flows at 200 Gbit/s. This lab also features the equipment used in major telecommunications facilities in Canada, allowing Algonquin College students to get hands-on experience from world-class and cutting-edge technology in this new teaching lab installation. Read more >


Student Email Update

Working on a laptop

An Important message for students:

To keep your information safeguarded, we are updating our systems for email access. As of August 27 at 3:00 p.m., you may not be able to access your Algonquin College email account via your current email applications. This change is being made to maintain compatibility with security improvements that Microsoft is planning in the future.

Access to email using the Microsoft Outlook application (installed on all standard College laptops and desktops), the Microsoft Mail Windows 10 application, the Outlook app (available for most mobile devices) and via a web browser will not be affected. Any other email app or client may no longer function to access your College email. Read more >


Student Health & Safety Training

Corona Virus general InformationAlgonquin College wants to ensure that students are properly trained for their return to Campus.

Algonquin’s Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Team has partnered with YOW Canada Inc. to provide an on-line Student OHS Training Portal that is customized to your personal OHS training requirements. When you visit the student OHS Training Portal, you will be prompted to enter your Student ID Number. Once confirmed, the system will take you to your personalized training dashboard that identifies training offerings available to you. On the same screen, a convenient list of courses you have completed appears at the bottom. Read more >