On Monday, MCC will open its doors to high school students who will be participating in two new summer academy programs. The Summer Engineering Academy and the Summer Information Technology (IT) Academy are designed to offer students exposure to these technology-related fields as well as the industries in this region.
“These new learning opportunities are designed to promote the IT and engineering career opportunities in our area,” said Dr. Dianna G. Phillips, dean, Technical Education. “There are viable, sustainable careers in these industries for young people in Rochester, and we want to give them as much exposure and access to them as possible. At the completion of these programs, students will have the fundamental skills that they need to enter the workforce or go on to college for further study in these areas.”
The Summer Engineering Academy is a six-week, hands-on program where students will design and build a fully functioning robot, and, ultimately, participate in a competition among their classmates. The students will also study hands-on machining skills, engineering design, electronic skills and optical and mechanical engineering. Through a partnership with the Rochester Tooling and Machining Association (RTMA) and Trident Precision Tooling, students will be visiting local companies and meeting with engineers in the field to observe textbook concepts put into real-world context. Students will leave the program with experience in engineering design principles, problem-solving techniques, tooling and machining and electrical theory and build/testing.
Students registered for the Summer Engineering Academy via dual-credit courses offered at area high schools, including East Ridge, all Greece schools, Edison Tech, Palmyra-Macedon, Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas. For the first time, students will receive compensation for their participation in the program that runs five days a week through August 22. A fall session of MCC’s Engineering Academy is scheduled to begin in October.
The Summer IT Academy was created in partnership with Otetiana Council’s Learning for Life program, and will also be a hands-on learning experience for participants, as students will be taught the skills specific to careers in IT. Topics include operation systems, utility programs, semiconductor chips, motherboard devices and more. The program, which is open to students 16 years of age and older, will run five days a week through August 7.
In addition to technical skills, students participating in the Engineering and IT academies will also learn important career skills, such as planning, public speaking, resume writing, interview skills and communications skills, as well as how to work with a multidisciplinary team.
The summer academies at MCC are being funded by the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative, which is sponsored through a grant issued by the United States Department of Labor. The WIRED Initiative, launched in November 2005, stresses the critical role that talent development plays in creating effective regional economic development strategies. WIRED goes beyond traditional strategies for worker preparation by bringing together state, local and federal entities; academic institutions (including K-12, community colleges and universities); investment groups; foundations; businesses and industries to address the challenges associated with building a globally competitive and prepared workforce. MCC received part of a $15 million grant to fund these summer programs. For more information on WIRED, visit www.doleta.gov/wired/.
Dr. Dianna G. Phillips
Technical Education
07/11/2008 |