Around WakeTech
Generous Grant Funds Enhance Wake Tech Programs
RALEIGH, N.C. (October 26, 2014) - Wake Tech received more than $4.4 million in grant funds in 2013-14, the most successful year in the 10-year history of the college’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Federal Relations. Educational institutions often count on grant awards to expand programs and services beyond what their operating budgets allow.
“It has truly been a phenomenal year,” says Wake Tech President Dr. Stephen C. Scott. “These vital resources enable us to have a much greater impact on the community – providing training and educational options that affect workers, families, industries, and our regional economy.”
Noteworthy among Wake Tech’s 2013-14 grants is $2.9 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to develop training programs in “mission critical” operations, preparing workers to handle the structures and systems that keep businesses and government running around the clock. Wake Tech is one of five colleges and universities sharing a total of $23 million in grant funding for this initiative.
A grant of $250,000 from the Duke Energy Foundation will also focus on mission critical training operations, allowing Wake Tech to purchase additional equipment to provide training opportunities in process automation and wastewater management systems. Other training projects include planning, assembly, programming, system operation, optimization of control parameters, maintenance, commissioning, and fault-finding.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Wake Tech $826,000 to enhance applied engineering technologies and college/university transfer programs at the college. With the grant award, Wake Tech will integrate additive manufacturing, or AM, into the design and delivery of instruction. AM, also known as “3D printing,” is a process in which a digital model directs the layering of materials to create a three-dimensional object of almost any shape, including industrial parts. It is expected to revolutionize manufacturing and could become available for consumer use.
The NSF also awarded Wake Tech $79,000 to provide students in astronomy courses with remote access to telescopes in West Virginia, Chile, Western Europe, and Australia. This project is a partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Morehead Observatory. Students can remotely position telescopes to conduct their own observations for scientific study.
Other grant-funded projects at Wake Tech will enhance solid waste reduction efforts and help launch a speaker series in economics. A grant for accelerated training opportunities will benefit veterans and military families.
Since the Office of Sponsored Programs and Federal Relations was founded in 2004, Wake Tech has received more than $25 million in grant funding for programs and initiatives, half of which has been awarded in the past three years.
