- Partnership with MIT inspires innovation
- Tennessee colleges team on robust higher ed pipeline
- Preparing for non-flying jobs in aviation
Partnership with MIT inspires innovation
A program that aims to inspire young inventors and entrepreneurs worked with students at Río Hondo College (RHC) and local high schools this summer to help them create a range of innovations that have practical applications.
The California college’s inaugural Bridge to Invention Río program — created in partnership with the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — guided students through the disciplines of business and engineering to create and present a product, web app or service, from using drones for campus security, to adapting smart textiles to chairs to improve posture.
“Getting to work with MIT is amazing because you don’t think to get that opportunity at a community college level, and it makes the world feel more accessible,” said RHC physics major Elisa Ruvalcaba, whose team created an underground watering system to reduce California’s water waste by 25%.
At the end of the two-week program, student teams presented their projects and each student received an award of completion, according to a release from the college. Funding for the summer program came through federal Hispanic-Serving Institution grants.
Tennessee colleges team on robust higher ed pipeline
Volunteer State Community College and the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) will develop a pathway to degrees in agriculture, healthcare and technology, with agriculture business degrees being the first phase.
UTM and Vol State are also finalizing a dual-admissions agreement to allow students to enroll in both institutions simultaneously. The goal of the partnership is to develop a strong workforce pipeline that allows learners to stay in the county for all of their education and training needs. Robertson County is the third-highest agricultural-producing county in Tennessee.
“With the help of the UT Highland Rim AgResearch and Education Center for laboratories, we can offer a wide variety of agriculture courses leading to a degree, in some cases without even coming to the Martin campus,” Todd Winters, dean of agriculture and applied sciences said in a release.
Preparing for non-flying jobs in aviation
City Colleges of Chicago and the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) are collaborating to offer a free continuing education course online with the goal of introducing individuals to careers in the aviation industry, from operations and sales, to management.
“Every day, thousands of Chicagoland residents work in the vibrant aviation sector, which contributes tens of billions of dollars to the Chicago economy and keeps America flying,” said Kimberly Hollingsworth, president of Olive-Harvey College, a college in the district that will host the program. “The course will go a long way in introducing people to the many career paths available not only at the CDA, but the dozens of employers that keep O’Hare and Midway running.”
The course will cover: the history of CDA; aviation terminology and safety and security, regulatory requirements; and current trends and career paths in the industry.
