Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • September 24, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 13 are expansive across Connecticut's community college system, said Karen Wosczyna-Birch, executive di- rector of Connecticut State Colleg- es & Universities' College of Tech- nology. In addition to a one-year aerospace-focused manufacturing program offered at seven schools that work with industry profes- sionals in formulating curricula, Norwalk Community College has partnered with IBM on a program teaching IT job skills, Wosczyna- Birch said. But students begin the Norwalk Early College Academy (NECA) program in high school, and are able to earn their associate degree in computer sci- ence by the time they graduate. NECA is part of the P-TECH model, which the IBM Founda- tion created. It's a partnership between IBM, Norwalk Commu- nity College and Norwalk High School, which hosts the pro- gram. Students go through a rigorous curricu- lum with college coursework in subjects like software engi- neering and web development, in addition to high school-level work, according to IBM. Other industry partnerships exist beyond the college level. Connecticut Technical High School System of- ficials meet with representatives of various industries to find out what they should be teaching. Faculty for every trade taught in Connecticut's 17 technical high schools are required twice a year to meet with a career technical educa- tion advisory committee, which in- cludes representatives of companies across the state, said Jeffrey Wihbey, superintendent of the Technical High School System. "It's all about making sure we're asking them the right questions," Wihbey said. "What do you want us to be producing for you in terms of workers?" Teachers take curriculum cues from these industries and learn about "soft skills" students are miss- ing, Wihbey said, like showing up on time, looking people in the eye and putting away phones at work Broader education Peter Diplock, assistant vice provost at UConn's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, said engag- ing with industry is important, but he pushes back on the notion that professional programs should be solely focused on industry-specific skills. UConn is responsive to industry needs in formulating curricula — especially in the schools of business, engineering and nursing — but students also need to learn different skills and how to think on their feet. That's the val- ue of a broader education of- fered by tradi- tional four-year universities. UConn's dif- ferent schools and departments have dozens of advisory boards from which uni- versity officials continually learn about the most current practices in their respec- tive industries, and adjust their teaching accord- ingly, Diplock said. However, the most current skills don't neces- sarily dictate curricula. "Techniques come and go," Diplock said. "The real leaders in an area are going to know why things exist the way they do." That's not to say UConn doesn't work closely with industry. UConn's School of Engineering, for example, last spring introduced the Navy STEM program, with an inaugural class of about 70 students. The course of study focuses specifically on engineer- ing for the naval industry, said Stepha- nie Wanne, who runs the program. Next year, the program will establish deeper ties with area naval businesses, said associate dean of engineering Michael Accorsi. Industry players including Electric Boat and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center will work with UConn in assigning senior-year engineering projects, and will advise students as they work on them. "It serves multiple purposes," Ac- corsi said. "It allows the companies to interact with our students, and potentially hire them. It also engages our faculty with industry to under- stand their problems, which gets communication going between our faculty and the companies." UConn Tech Park offers new twist to industry-college partnerships By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com T ouring the Innovation Part- nership Building (IPB) at the University of Connecticut Tech Park in Storrs is like taking a peek into the future. A lot of big machines and big ideas. While the atomic microscopes and supercomputing facilities are the state-of-the-art tools companies and faculty use to design products they hope will change the world, the UConn student assistants represent the future of those employers. "Almost every school and college at the university has internship pro- grams," said S. Pamir Alpay, execu- tive director of the UConn IPB/Tech Park. "What we do here is a little bit different." The IPB, the Tech Park's inaugural building, is meant to bring top faculty, students and industry partners togeth- er in a facility with the best available equipment so they can develop innova- tive solutions to real-world problems. The project broke ground in 2015, the same year the state Bond Commission approved $131.5 million for the project. Between construction, equipment and road and site improvements around the building, IPB cost a total of about $170 million, according to UConn. Industry partners — including Thermo Fisher Scientific, Eversource, United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney, Comcast, Synchrony Financial, Fraunhofer, UTC Aero- space Systems and General Electric — have collectively put in more than $80 million to conduct research at the IPB, according to UConn. Companies with space in the Tech Park pay fees to use the building and equipment, and for some, that's about as far as their interaction with UConn goes, Alpay said. But many companies also enlist the help of about 70 un- dergraduate and graduate students — who are vetted by UConn and the companies — per semester, Alpay said. Unlike traditional internships in which students work as regular, low- level employees, pupils working in the Tech Park collaborate on teams trying to complete specific company projects, Alpay said. "It's a … project, problem, solution- driven kind of approach that is slightly different than a very open- ended internship that you can get through other opportunities on campus," Alpay said. Working on a project trying to build a prototype, or solve a manu- facturing problem can showcase a student's talents, and put him or her on track to employment with the company, Alpay said. "Here we have undergrad students, or grad students start working with the companies in the building, and it naturally progresses to something like … an internship, or a co-op, both at the undergrad and the graduate level," Alpay said. One Tech Park company that has been drawing from UConn's student pool is UTC Aerospace Systems out of Windsor Locks, which established its Center for Advanced Materials. There, researchers focus on develop- ing advanced aerospace and defense products. And at the Eversource Energy Cen- ter, students assist in research aimed at mitigating storm hazards, deliver- ing improved reliability, and increas- ing the resiliency of the electric grid. Undergrads who have worked on Eversource projects have gone on to be hired for internships and co-ops that put them on track for full-time employment, Alpay said. "This is a huge investment from the state to the university, and it was established so that academia and industry can work together in one setting on issues that are dear to their hearts," Alpay said. Making a history degree more practical College-industry partnerships, at least in one case, have made a seemingly impractical major a lot more practical. Central Connecticut State University introduced its master's degree program in public history about 12 years ago, said Matt Warshauer, a CCSU history professor. While a history major is sometimes derided as a degree useful only for people intent on entering academia as a profession — teaching the subject they learned — CCSU connects students with organizations like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which does historical surveys of storm damage, and architectural firms that do historical restorations. "It's not us just training people and saying, 'go out there and try to find a job.' It's us working with organizations," Warshauer said. "We're constantly talking to (companies and organizations), and asking them about their needs, what do they want students to know?" SPECIAL SERIES Matt Warshauer, History Professor, Central Connecticut State University S. Pamir Alpay, executive director of the UConn Innovation Partnership Building at the school's Tech Park in Storrs, showcases a research lab within the building. HBJ PHOTO | SEAN TEEHAN

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