Career Education News and Technology Ideas

STEM Camp To Focus On Automotive Technology.
The Gadsden (AL) Times (6/15) reports, "About 30 juniors and seniors from Etowah and Cherokee County high schools will attend the third annual STEM Camp Monday through Friday at the East Broad Campus of Gadsden State Community College." The event is associated with the Consortium for Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Technology, which seeks "to prepare students for jobs in the high-tech automotive industry in Alabama. Participants will attend classes, complete hands-on tasks and tour the Hyundai plant south of Montgomery." As part of the program, "the participants will spend about two-and-a-half hours in classes such as electronics, machine tool technology, industrial automation and welding." The students will also "be mentored by Gadsden State students and career coaches," and "have a specific hands-on project designed by instructors and will leave the class with some object that he or she has made."

Summer Camp Encourages Interest In STEM. Colorado's Steamboat Pilot (6/15) reports on the "It's All About Energy" overnight summer camp being held at Colorado Mountain College's Alpine Campus, with similar programs being offered at other campuses. "Camp coordinator Laurie Marano, CMC's director for student support services, said the purpose of the camp was to encourage interest in the STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- sciences. She said the students had to apply for the camp, which included writing an essay about what they like about science and what they want to learn." Educators said that "the camp included hands-on activities and instruction in energies including solar, wind and hydro power," and noted that the small groups of students allowed them "to go more in-depth" with the lessons than they were able to during regular classes.

High School Holds PLTW Science Camp. The Ironton (OH) Tribune (6/14, Heath) reported on the Project Lead the Way science camp at Chesapeake High School, "designed to gets seventh and eighth graders interested in learning more about engineering as a possible career." Students participating in the camp undertook "simple design project assignments" such as using paper an masking tape to build "the tallest and most stable towers the students could devise," creating "a package that could protect an egg dropped from 12 feet," and "making their own rockets out of a pop bottle and a small drinking cup."

From ACTE
Convention Early-Bird Deadline Ends July 15
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After you register, browse the rest of the Convention Web site for the latest updates to the program, including new tours, session details, information on Nashville and more.

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Seen on the Forums
Economic Downturn and Recovery: Will R&D save the U.S. auto industry? Or is it a lost cause? Your colleagues are weighing in!
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There are many more conversations going on at www.acteonline.org/forum.aspx.


Career and Technical Education
STEM Conference Helps Educators, Business Leaders Establish Partnership.
The Uniontown (PA) Herald Standard (6/15) reports, "Some 80 area educators and local business leaders participated in the first Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Conference at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus in May." The event was designed "to address challenges raised by educators who say they need assistance in making these topics more interesting and appealing." One of the contributors noted, "Our objectives for the conference were to provide examples of newly developed technologies and methods that support quality teaching in public and private schools; to establish a dialogue between the business and education communities that highlights STEM jobs in the real world and their correlation with STEM curricula; and to provide a communication platform...that links school teachers to each other, as well as to scientists." Penn State Fayette Chancellor Dr. Emmanuel I. Osagie "said he is very optimistic that partnerships between local educators and business leaders will grow as a result of the event."

New Hampshire Community Colleges See Surge In Enrollment.
The Concord (NH) Monitor (6/15, Barrick) reports on "a new wave of students surging into New Hampshire's community colleges amid the economic downturn. Applications to the state's seven community college campuses are up by double-digit percentages and show no signs of slacking." Like other community colleges across the US, New Hampshire schools are "benefiting from two trends tied to the sluggish economy:" increasing numbers of people looking "to pick up a new trade or learn skills that will help them weather the recession," and students seeking to lower the cost of a four-year degree using "community colleges to get the first two years of study under their belt for relatively low cost." School officials say "the new students are taking a practical approach in selecting their courses. Programs in growing industries, such as health and computer sciences, are increasingly popular." Similarly, the schools are "seeing a lot of growth in [their] technical programs, in welding, HVAC."



Shift To Online Courses Changing The College Experience.
The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (6/14, Velde) reported, "As enrollment in online college classes soar, driven by students who expect high-tech opportunities, faculty members...are creating a whole new kind of campus." According to some experts, the classic "college experience" is "becoming more and more of a minority," and while "virtual classes still aren't the majority...the move to an online format is persistent and steady." The number of students taking online courses nearly doubled between 2003 and 2007, representing roughly 3.94 million students. "This fall, Florida State University will offer 28 undergraduate courses online and more than 100 graduate-level classes." School officials said that although the process has a high upfront cost, "because there's little cost involved with upkeep, it's worth it in the long run." They also said "that students may actually interact more online, when perhaps they're less inhibited."

Public Policy
Pentagon Fears Shortage Of Engineers, Scientists Could Erode Military's Edge.
The Boston Globe (6/13, Bender) reported, "The Pentagon fears a severe shortage of scientists and engineers at government laboratories could erode the military's technological edge in developing weapons and other projects in coming years, spawning a hiring boom at military research laboratories and an expansion of scholarships, advertising campaigns, and other ways to recruit a new generation of researchers." Both the Air Force and the Navy have said that "technological superiority over potential adversaries could be diminished unless a new cadre of scientists and engineers can be persuaded to work on possible breakthroughs pursued by government labs, but not in the private sector." To address the issue, "the Pentagon is trying a variety of new initiatives this year." Among other things, "the office responsible for defense research has requested additional funding to increase five-fold -- to 550 -- the number of scholarships available for science and engineering students in exchange for government service."

Indiana Pushes For Students To Take More College Prep, AP Courses.
The Journal and Courier (6/14, Watling) reported, "The Indiana Department of Education is pushing for more students to earn college credit while still in school by taking those AP classes and passing their accompanying tests, which it hopes will better prepare students for college in hopes more will finish." Tony Bennett, Indiana's superintendent of public instruction, "has set the goal of 25 percent of high school graduates passing one test or earning early college credit other ways, which would put Indiana among the top states in the U.S." Last year the state was ranked 31st. Some experts say "that goal is admirable but unlikely, at least unless the state backs it up with financial incentives, including money for the advanced teacher training and the $86 student tests." Still, educators say, pursuing higher goals and a "rigorous curriculum" will benefit the students regardless.

Louisiana Business Community Begins To Voice Opposition To Higher Education Cuts.
The Money blog in New Orleans' Times-Picayune (6/14, White) reported, "The state's colleges and universities have been the most vocal critics of the governor's plan to slash higher education spending in the upcoming fiscal year, but a business community fearful of losing more skilled workers has also begun to voice opposition to the plan." Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) "has proposed making a 15 percent, or $219 million, cut to colleges and universities for the next budget year." Some business officials, however, say "slashing funding for schools without giving them time to restructure would disrupt the bond that the business community has tried to forge with universities to develop the state's high-tech and knowledge-based economy." They ask that while "there should eventually be reductions in the higher education system...such cuts should come only after enough data are collected to determine the best course of action."



California Utility District Set To Approve Smart Grid Rollout.
The Sacramento Bee (6/14, Downing) reported, "This week, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District is set to take its first step toward what promises to be the most significant development in electricity in a century: the 'smart' grid. Thursday, the SMUD board is scheduled to approve a 30-month rollout of 620,000 meters for the Internet age. Instead of today's 'dumb' odometer-style counters, the devices will be brainy hubs in a new electrical nervous system that promises to save money and power and foster the next tech boom. 'The electrical system right now looks a lot like it did when Westinghouse and Edison were alive," said Steve Hauser, a vice president at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He added, "Once you get these systems in place, it's like the Internet in that it sets a foundation for an explosion of innovation."

Geothermal Energy Receives Boost From DOE.
The Wall Street Journal (6/13, Buhayar) Environmental Capital blog reported that the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has allowed the Department of Energy to aggressively pursue a range of energy technologies that have struggled to get a hearing in Washington," including geothermal. President Bush, in fiscal year 2007, "tried to eliminate funding for DOE's research in the area altogether. Congress eventually threw it a $5 million life saver. By fiscal 2009, geothermal had clawed its way back to $30 million." Then, "President Obama announced $350 million in funding when he visited Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada last month. And [Secretary Chu] tacked on an additional $50 million a week later in Indiana." DOE funding is being provided for "just about every type of geothermal project...from the tried-and-true heat pump to new technology that would generate energy from the hot water that comes out of the ground with every new barrel of crude."

Republicans Say Climate Change Bill Amounts To Energy Tax.
The AP (6/13, Hebert) reported, "Republicans on Saturday slammed a Democratic bill before the House that seeks to address climate change, arguing that it amounts to an energy tax on consumers." In the GOP's weekly radio and Internet address, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) said "Congress should instead open the way for more domestic oil and natural gas production and ease regulatory barriers for building new nuclear power plants." Pence outlined the "alternative proposal that he and several other House Republicans unveiled earlier this week. The GOP plan included no mandatory limits on greenhouse gases - something that supporters of the Democratic bill argue is essential to reduce the risks of global warming." The GOP plan calls for "using revenue from more oil and gas drilling to promote renewable energy such as wind and solar; it also makes it easier to get approval to build more nuclear power plants."

Workforce
Labor Market Expected To Recover Slowly.
The AP (6/15) reports, "Unlike the labor market collapse that killed millions of U.S. jobs in a matter of months, the nation's return to peak employment will not be nearly as uniform nor as swift." While signs indicate "that the worst of the recession may be over, only six metropolitan areas across the country are expected to regain their pre-recession employment levels by the end of 2009, according to projections from IHS Global Insight, a leading economic forecaster." The areas "poised for a jobs rebound later this year are: Anchorage, Alaska; Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Columbia, Mo.; Laredo, Texas; and the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux areas of Louisiana." The bleak jobs picture "underscores the long, tough road ahead in rebuilding the U.S. economy after the worst recession since the Great Depression." Of the 6 million jobs "lost since the recession began 18 months ago, nearly 4 million were eliminated between November and April. The six-month freefall included a record four straight months with more than 600,000 job losses."



Companies Should Focus On Expanding Uses Of Existing Technology, Experts Say.
McClatchy (6/14, Lee) reported that "innovation is rarely...dramatic or accidental," and "more often than not...simply consists of finding new uses for existing technologies, experts say." Educator and management Scott Testa said, "There are very few game-changing, revolutionary ideas. ... Most ideas are improvements on things that already exist." He said "companies would be wise to scour their intellectual property inventories for some new ideas," since "breakthrough innovation is expensive, especially in a recession when corporations can no longer afford to endlessly fund research and development." The article notes several examples of companies "using their core technology to exploit demand for green energy," including Veeco Energy, "which normally makes equipment to create semiconductor chips and lasers" but "received a much-needed sales boost from its foray into high-tech solar panels" in collaboration with a Swedish university.

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