Ivy Tech Bloomington awarded $240,000 NSF Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 13, 2012

Ivy Tech Bloomington awarded $240,000 NSF Grant

Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington was awarded a $240,000 Advanced Technical Education (ATE) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a curriculum that prepares students for the demands of the modern manufacturing environment. The award is part of a larger grant of $880,000 awarded to a regional partnership of three community colleges: Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington; Madisonville Community College in Madisonville, Kentucky; Jackson State Community College in Jackson, Tennessee.

“The purpose of our tri-state collaboration is to increase the number of multi-skilled maintenance technicians and skilled production workers to meet the needs of modern manufacturers in western Kentucky, central Indiana, and western Tennessee,” said Kirk Barnes, Dean of the School of Technology.

“The funds from this grant will allow us to offer more classes and training in Ivy Tech-Bloomington’s Industrial Technology, Design and Engineering programs. We will develop a core academic curriculum and interactive online coursework in these program areas which can be shared between the partner colleges, and eventually with colleges nationwide.”

“Additionally, we will increase our outreach to high school students by expanding and enhancing our dual credit course offerings in design, engineering, and technology. Dual Credit courses allow high school students to earn college credits during the school day. Introducing high school students to current industry practices and new technology will help to improve the negative stereotype associated with production line work,” said Barnes.

The project builds on Madisonville Community College’s previously-funded NSF-ATE project which created a curriculum centered on the “integrated systems” approach advocated by Siemens, an internationally-recognized manufacturing and engineering firm. One of the objectives of this new grant project is to demonstrate that the same curriculum implemented by Siemens can serve a variety of industries, such as the biomedical industry in Bloomington. As part of the project, Ivy Tech faculty members will receive training in the “integrated systems” approach at the Siemens facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania and at Siemens Technik Akademie Berlin in Berlin, Germany.

For more information about Ivy Tech’s industrial technology, design, and engineering programs contact Kirk Barnes, Dean of the School of Technology, at (812) 330-6050 or kbarnes@ivytech.edu.

About Ivy Tech Community College

Ivy Tech Community College (www.ivytech.edu) is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system serving nearly 200,000 students annually. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.