Lessons from industrial training in photonics testing: developing practical technical skills for lifelong learning

Industrial training provides a vital platform for Electrical Engineering students to gain real­world experience in addition to theoretical knowledge acquisition. This reflective article describes my internship at Jabil Circuit, located at Batu Kawan, Penang. The purpose of this internship is to expose me to industry practices, particularly in advanced technologies industries.
During my internship, I worked in the Test Engineering (TE) department in the photonics section whereby my responsibilities are testing optical communication modules in clean room environment. As for Test Engineering department, its key role is to make sure that all products produced by the company are up to the required quality and performance standards before being released to customers.
Photonics is defined as an advanced branch of technology that deals with the use of light for the transmission of data in high-speed communication systems such as data centres and cloud computing systems. This reflection article outlines my technical responsibilities, including Bit Error Rate (BER) testing, Duty Cycle and Extinction optimization (DCEO) testing, and additional activities involving troubleshooting, calibration, and equipment maintenance.
Specific Technical Tasks and Responsibilities
As a trainee in TE d1epartment, my responsibilities include the testing of products manufactured by the company. One of the technical tasks given to me was the BIT error rate testing, whereby the quality of optical communication systems is measured based on this test. The BIT error rate testing involves the transmission of a particular set of data to measure its quality.
Furthermore, the next technical task was the DCEO testing that includes checking the quality of signals in terms of extinction ratio, signal symmetry and waveform quality through the analysis of the eye diagrams. Through the process, I learn that the signal quality has direct impact on the overall performance of the system. Poor extinction ratio or inappropriate duty cycle will lead to high degrees of signal distortion thus affecting BIT performance.