Archive for the ‘Technical Education’ Category
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
The Miller Roadshow Truck will be at Sierra College this Saturday offering advanced MIG & TIG welding classes.
The new Sierra College Mobile Welding lab will be unveiled and attendees can take short workshops in the new lab.
PG&E and over 20 welding industry partners will provide demonstrations at the Rocklin campus. Attendees can try live as well as virtual welding.
When: Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 9am – 4:00 pm.
Who: The American Welding Society Sierra College Student Chapter is hosting this event for families, students, welders and community members.
Why: Attendees can experience metal working from blacksmithing to state-of-the-art welding technology being used in construction and fabrication to rebuild America.
Tags: 2013, April 27, CACT, Miller, mobile lab, Rocklin, Sierra, Sierra CACT, weld, Weld Expo, Welding
Posted in Sierra College, STEM Careers, STEM Education, Technical Education, Uncategorized, Workshops
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
Sierra College faculty inspired high school girls, instilled new confidence and invited them to pursue technical careers at the first Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) event held on Friday, April 19. 
Small groups, hands-on on projects, female role models, encouraging professors and a warm welcome to Sierra College were all part of the strategy to inspire girls at the NEW event according to Carol Pepper-Kittredge, Director, Center for Applied Competitive Technology Center (CACT), Sierra College. Held at the Rocklin campus, girls from Roseville, Nevada City, Truckee and communities in between were introduced to Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) education and careers paths.
“We wanted these girls to know that they can succeed in nontraditional careers and make 
a difference for their families, community and the world,” said Pepper-Kittredge. “The event was designed to engage girls, and help them see themselves attending Sierra College and taking computer, design, welding, Mechatronics and other Career Technical Education (CTE) classes.”
Tags: CACT, NEW, nontraditional careers, Nontraditional Employment for Women, Pepper-Kittredge, Sierra STEM, STEM, STEM for girls, Women in STEM
Posted in Innovation, Product Design, Sierra College, STEM Career Exploration, STEM Careers, STEM Education, STEM for girls, Technical Education, Uncategorized
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
Discover your passion for welding, see the latest welding equipment, talk with experts, try welding, enroll in TIG or MIG advanced seminars, check out virtual welding, meet faculty and students, see pipe welding demonstrations and so much more at Weld Expo at Sierra College on Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 9 am to 4 pm. Free admission and free parking.
Learn more: http://sierraschoolworks.com/section/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/96-Sparks-will-fly-at-Sierra-College-Weld-Expo-’13.jpg
Tags: April 27, CTE, Rocklin, Sierra College, Sierra STEM Collaborative, weld, Weld Expo, Welding
Posted in Sierra College, STEM Career Exploration, STEM Careers, STEM Education, Technical Education, Workshops
Thursday, April 18th, 2013
On Friday, April 19, girls from Placer and Nevada county high schools will experience what it might be like to study Mechatronics, Welding, Drafting & Engineering Support and other Career Technical Education programs that are nontraditional for women. Listen to the April 18 (10:25am) KNCO interview with Carol Pepper-Kittredge, CACT Director, Sierra College to learn more about this event aimed at attracting young women to STEM careers — Nontraditional Employment for Women Workshop.
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Tags: CACT, Career Technical Education, CTE, education path, girls in STEM, hands-on learning, KNCO, NEW, nontrad, Nontraditional Employment for Women, Pepper-Kittredge, Rocklin, STEM Education
Posted in Innovation, Sierra College, STEM Career Exploration, STEM Careers, STEM Education, STEM for girls, Technical Education, Uncategorized
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
On Friday, April 19, at the NEW Event, high school girls, in groups of less than 10, will meet Sierra College faculty, create a project and learn about careers that are nontraditional for women such as welding, mechatronics, automotive and drafting.
This intimate NEW event will give girls a welcoming introduction to a technical education path at Sierra College. They will see labs, use tools, build projects, meet female college students and learn about careers. The event is designed to connect with girls and inspire their career plans.
At the Sierra College Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) Event expect:
- Girls doing hands-on projects using power and hand-tools in college labs.
- Students using diagnostic equipment to troubleshoot basic mechanical issues on a car.
- Women designing with 3D software and seeing 3D printing or additive manufacturing.
- Females learning basic fabrication skills to make their own metal flower vase.
- Girls interacting with faculty and college students at six different labs on campus.
Businesses seek more employees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Women are underrepresented in these fields. Attracting female students to technical careers will help supply workers needed to maintain a global competitiveness and provide living wage employment to women.
Tags: automotive, CACT, drafting, girls in STEM, Mechatronics, NEW, Nontraditional employment, Sierra College, STEM, STEM for girls, Welding, Women in STEM
Posted in Innovation, Sierra College, STEM Career Exploration, STEM Education, STEM for girls, Technical Education
Monday, March 11th, 2013
In response to the need to prepare students for careers that require Applied Critical Thinking and other 21st Century Skills, Sierra College STEM Collaborative announced a new progessioal development program for high school and college faculty.
Local employers echo what national business organzations are saying – students need to be better prepared for the workplace. at a meeting on February 13, an employer skills panel made up of Andy Reimanis, Director of Engineering Telefunken Semiconductors America; Carol Rogers, Vice President, Progressive Technology; and Leandra Wilson, Director of Strategic Operations & Human Resources, Harris & Bruno shared specific examples of how employees use critical thinking. They all described the problem solving steps engineers and technicians went through to figure out how to solve production problems.
Read more about ACTivATE and what instructors and employers are saying about this new Sierra College STEm project at the Auburn Journal – Critical thinking to become a focus at local schools –Teachers listen, respond to input from local employers.
The ACTivATE project builds on National Science Foduantion projects. Sierra College will partner with Tennessee Technological University that produced a widely used Critical Thinking Assessment Test (Expanding the Use of CAT: Assessing and Improving Critical Thinking – NSF DUE 1022789 ) and the Northwestern University Searle Center for Teaching Excellence that developed Enhancing Critical Thinking in STEM Disciplines: A Faculty Development Model (NSF DUE 0942404), both National Science Foundation (NSF) projects. The ACTivATE project also builds on Sierra College’s previous NSF Tech-Explorer grant (ATE 1003259) that highlighted the fact that during a hands-on catapult building project, students did not exhibit the critical thinking skills required of technicians.
Tags: National Science Foudnation, Northwestern University, NSF, Tennessee Technological University
Posted in Innovation, National Science Foundation, Sierra College, STEM Education, Technical Education, Uncategorized
Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
In the February 12, Sacramento Bee article, Mechanical teacher has many busy grads, Cathie Anderson reports that Sierra College students in the Mechatronics program are finding excellent career opportunities in a variety of STEM businesses. She writes:
“Sierra’s program is one of only about 10 in the nation, Halbern says, and it stands virtually alone when it comes to placing students in such a range of industries.
They can work on machines that build wafers, on the equipment that puts a ring just within an acrobat’s grasp, on locomotive controls, ski lifts, automobiles, traffic lights, ATMs, escalators, elevators, self-checkout kiosks, gas pumps….” Read more of the article at the Sac Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/12/5183023/cathie-anderson-mechanical-teacher.html#storylink=cpy
Students can learn more about opportunities in Mechatronics by watching this movie – Sierra College Mechatronics: STUDENTS Learn Real Skills for Real Jobs or going to www.realskillsrealjobs.com.
Through the Sierra STEM Collaborative, the Sierra College Mechatronics faculty have been very helpful to local high school programs that prepare students for STEM education and careers.
Tags: Halbern, Mechatronics, mechatronics jobs, Sierra College, STEM Careers, STEM jobs
Posted in Sierra College, STEM Careers, STEM Education, Technical Education
Thursday, January 31st, 2013
It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas appeared in Spirit, the Southwest Airline Magazine and described the Stanford Univiersity students who take innovation to the streets. In the SparkTruck, they visit communities and give kids a chance to exeperience the fun of making things and being creative. The goal is to spark their enthusiasm for invention. You’ll be inspired by how these graduate students are creatively teaching STEM outside of the classroom.
Tags: creativity, design, design school, innovation, kids, SparkTruck, Spirit, Standord, stanford, STEM, SWA
Posted in Innovation, Product Design, STEM Education, Technical Education
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
Colfax students display their team's amplifiers in Tech Essentials for Freshmen
Christian Kinsey, Terry O’Keefe and Wade Wolff, Colfax High School Tech Essentials Instructors, developed a new student project this year – an amplifier –that appeals to both boys and girls. The Freshmen Design Tech students can easily plug in their ipods in to the amplifier and listen to music.
The amplifier was designed in 3D software and made with hand tools, a vacuum former and a soldering iron. Students then customized the design of their ‘skin’ using design software and a vinyl printer/cutter.
Students also used Career Cruising to assess their interests, and researched two colleges where they might apply to pursue education after high school. For instance, they might be intersted in Welding, Mechatronics, Engineering, Energy Technology or Drafting & Engineering Support at Sierra College. The Sierra College STEM Collaborative grant provided access to Career Cruising and some of the design and fabrication tools. In addition, the students took the Kiersey Temperament test to discover their personality strengths and challenges, and learning style preferences.
Students also developed their own digital portfolios, which will follow them after they graduate.Working in teams, students developed a marketing video and branding materials, and prepared a seven-minute presentation that was delivered three times to ‘judges’ attending the event on Friday, December 21. Students used digital technology (the ipad) to demonstrate their portfolios which include their four-year plans, examples of their coursework, resumes, and the amplifier fabrication process. Judges filled out a plus/delta evaluation following each team presentation, and voted on overall best table design, best video and best ‘skin’ design.
“The team presentations were really outstanding! All of the ninth grade students were excited – and proud – of their projects,” said Carol Pepper-Kittredge, Director, Center for Applied Competitive Technologies, Sierra College and one of the community judges who listened to the students’ presentations. Colfax students display their team’s amplifiers in Tech Essentials for Freshmen
Tags: amplifier, Carol Pepper-Kittredge, Colfax, COlfax High School. Tech Essentials, CTE, hands-on, Kinsey, O'Keefe, Placer Union High School District, portfolio, project, Sierra College, Sierra STEM, STEM, Wolff
Posted in Applied Math, Innovation, Product Design, STEM Career Exploration, STEM Education, STEM for girls, Technical Education, Uncategorized
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
The Stanford Design school is offering a Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking. They hope that the 90 minute experience will start people adapting design thinking into their personal and professional routines.
Tags: design school, design thinking, stanford, STEM, stem teachers, virtual course
Posted in Innovation, Product Design, STEM Education, Technical Education
The Miller Roadshow Truck will be at Sierra College this Saturday offering advanced MIG & TIG welding classes.
