A National Science Foundation grant received by Chippewa Valley Technical College will establish and publish a set of best curriculum practices for those two-year colleges in the Middle West teaching nanotechnology.
John Wagner, CVTC Nanoscience Technology instructor, is one of the co-principal investigators of the four-year renewable grant.
“We will use these funds to further incubate an industry. The funds will prepare a highly technical workforce contributing to great economic returns in the future,” Wagner said.
“We like to think we have an edge on some of our competition. We’ve already had several Nanoscience Technology classes graduate and there’s a nice mix of those getting high-tech jobs and others choosing more education. We like either outcome,” said Joe Hegge, CVTC Vice President for Instruction.
The CVTC portion of the grant is $156,000. Other institutions receiving grant portions are Harper Community College in Palatine, Ill.; Lansing Community College in Michigan; Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Moorhead, Minn.; and North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. The colleges will each have representatives on an Industry Advisory Board.
Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minn., is the lead institution in the $3 million grant. Together the colleges have proposed a Midwest Regional Center for Nanotechnology Education.
In addition to web-publishing best practices, CVTC will be expected to establish a remote access to selected scientific instruments at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The web-publishing will be done in cooperation with North Dakota State College of Science. The latter will house and maintain a computer server for the purpose, said Hans Mikelson, also a Nanoscience Technology instructor at CVTC.
CVTC will also be responsible for a list of activities intended to foster and advance nanotechnology in the multistate region, according to Wagner.
- Share course syllabi among institutions
- Identify core competencies
- Track student data
- Recruit affiliate colleges
- Integrate nanotechnology into broader scientific disciplines
- Place educators in University of Minnesota and other workshops
- Promote the University of Minnesota’s capstone (fourth-semester) program
- With the University of Minnesota, develop instrumentation modules for incumbent workers in the region
CVTC’s Nanoscience Technology Dept. is led by Hans Mikelson, who can be reached at hmikelson@cvtc.edu. Dr. John Wagner can be reached at jwagner40@cvtc.edu.
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