Enhancing Workforce Readiness of Engineering Technicians

Abstract

I am the Area Coordinator of Science and Engineering, the Program Coordinator for Engineering and Engineering Technology, and Associate Professor of Engineering and Physics at Bucks County Community College (Bucks). I hold B.S. degree in physics, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, and I was a communication system engineer at General Electric in both military and commercial communication satellite operations for over nine years. I am currently completing a doctoral program at Drexel University in Educational Leadership and Management. I establish technical, college level, programs of study for modernized classroom and laboratory curricula including online course platforms, and integrated technologies. I have been involved in several grant efforts as the author and project director that have enhanced the programs at Bucks. I am currently the PI of an NSF ATE grant to increase the number of engineering technicians in Southeastern Pennsylvania. This grant involves a collaboration with Drexel University, our Business and Innovation Department and with our Center for Workforce development. We hope that our model will be a blueprint for community colleges nationwide. I secured funding from National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) in 2011 to develop a for-credit engineering technology program. In 2013, I secured funding from Dow Chemical for student research into quadrotor technology that involved a collaboration with a local high school leading to a competition at a neighboring community college. I was the faculty advisor to two student engineering teams that made the final round of the NSF AACC Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC) in 2016 and 2017. In 2017 and 2018 I secured funding from PECO Energy to conduct a feasibility study of the alternative energy innovation from the 2016 Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC), and to build a workable prototype. I secured funding in 2017 from Dow Chemical to conduct 3D printing exhibitions at schools in Bristol Borough, a school district with a higher percentage of underserved groups. My students and I are involved in community outreach involving 3D printing and STEM demonstrations and workshops to local community groups such as the girl scouts and boy scouts, other local community groups, and local K-12 schools. I am a senior member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the Women in Engineering (WIE) Division, a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and a member of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). Dr. Vladimir Genis, Drexel UniversityDr. Vladimir Genis -Professor and Head of the Department of Engineering Technology in the College of Engineering, has taught and developed graduate and undergraduate courses in physics, electronics, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, nondestructive testing, and acoustics. His research interests include ultrasound wave propagation and scattering, ultrasound imaging, nondestructive testing, biomedical engineering, electronic instrumentati...

Education in a Remote World: Focus on Workforce Readiness

“…Funds from our NSF ATE Grant #1902075 in collaboration with Drexel: Increasing the Number of Workforce-Ready Engineering Technicians in Southeastern Pennsylvania, helped Bucks to pave the way for innovation in technician education through a formalized connection of our credit and non-credit sides of the college, and by enhancing the curriculum for technician education (Figure 1). Within the goals of the grant to enhance the workforce readiness of our students, Bucks formally connected the engineering technology major to the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) by accepting certifications for college credit [3], [4]. During the pandemic, as part of enhancing curriculum to accommodate the college closures, techniques to engage and to retain students were developed within the credit side, the non-credit side, and through College-wide engagement initiatives sponsored by the Bucks Business and Innovation Department (Figure 2).…”