Community College Engineering Student Transfer

Yesterday I checked in via LinkedIn with a Holyoke Community College Engineering program
graduate who transferred to a nationally ranked top ten engineering university. The student is studying Electrical Engineering there and I asked how things were going. Here’s a screen shot of the response I got with identification information removed – including student name and the transfer university. Pretty cool!

The student compliments my two classes (Circuits 1 and Circuits 2) but there is so much more. Both classes are Calculus and Differential Equations based so the students need to really know their math stuff before I get them. The math, physics and chemistry instruction is  exceptional at Holyoke Community College – as it is at so many other community colleges in the country.  It is not just the STEM classes that prepare students for my classes though. To get their degree our students need to take additional courses including English Composition, History, Social Sciences and in some cases Business courses. These courses are critical, complementing the technical knowledge, skills and abilities gained in engineering courses, producing well-rounded professionals capable of addressing complex challenges with creativity, empathy, and ethical awareness.

 

I see it every day with students coming to my classes prepared to learn, solve problems, communicate and understand some pretty complex stuff. Amazing faculty doing amazing things in their classrooms makes it pretty easy for me to teach those classes.

We (community colleges) often face unjust criticism due to misconceptions. Despite offering quality education, we’re sometimes seen as inferior to four-year institutions. We provide valuable opportunities and options with smaller classes, dedicated faculty, and affordable tuition. And let's not forget transfer to four year institutions.

 

Thanks to the unnamed student – you certainly made the day!

“Returning” to Western Massachusetts

It’s been a bit of a roadtrip back but…… it is official…… I’m back! In 2014 I took an early retirement from Springfield Technical CommunityCollege and signed on as a part-time consulting Co Director for NationalScience Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) funded NationalCenter for Optics and Photonics Education (OP-TEC). OP-TEC with a main office in Waco, Texas and funded via University of Central Florida, had five years left before sunsetting. I ended up staying with OP-TEC as a consultant for about 3.5 years. Most of my work was done out of my home office in Massachusetts with monthly trips to Waco and the occasional trip to UCF in Orlando. The work was interesting and I enjoyed it but the Center was in the last year of funding - something referred to as "sunsetting" in the grant world and my time there was to be ending soon. I knew I needed to find a replacement, with a preference for something a little closer to home....

In November 2017 I applied for and was offered a visiting professor position at the University of Hartford College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture. I spent the last three amazing semesters there teaching a variety of electronics, electrical engineering and engineering design courses. The admins, faculty and especially the students were incredible and it felt so good being back in the classroom – teaching. So much fun to connect with students again after almost 20 years of academic and NSF grant administrative work. I am so impressed with the University of Hartford community – the way everyone pulls together to help each other out - respectful, hard working committed….. amazing. I had left teaching traditional age college students in 1998 and was not sure what to expect in 2018 – to say I was pleasantly surprised at Hartford is a huge understatement!

But those visiting professor gigs are temporary and don’t last long. This past spring I sadly realized my time at Hartford was coming to an end and I needed to start looking around again. So…. I applied for an Engineering Professor position at Holyoke Community College, interviewed and….. was offered the position. I start in September…. a little closer to home and also a lot closer to my parents home.

Leaving Hartford is breaking my heart - I’m really going to miss everyone there, especially the incredible students I had the opportunity to work with in my classes. No names because I’m sure I would end up leaving some out. Thanks to all of you who worked so hard in my classes – I’m jealous of you all with your work ethic and commitment to excellence along with the internship, career and academic opportunities you have already had or will have. If any of you are reading this please keep working hard and stay in touch. I look forward to following your careers.

Took the long way back to Western Mass via Waco, Orlando and Hartford but I’m back. Looking forward to reestablishing some of those past regional business and industry connections and working with the admins, faculty and especially students at HCC. And yes - you bet I’m hoping to establish some sort of a formal transfer/articulation agreement between HCC and Hartford.

Online Ladder Logic Simulations

Some of you know how much I’m loving being back in the classroom as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Hartford College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture (CETA). I started in January for the spring semester and am fortunate to have been invited back for the fall semester. CETA offers both BS Engineering Technology and BS Engineering degrees with students having the following options:

• Engineering, with its emphasis on theory, analysis, and design, 
• Technology, which teaches engineering technology, with an emphasis on hands-on application of theory; or
• Architecture, with its emphasis on a combination of design and application of theory.

I’ve had the opportunity to teach both Engineering Technology and Engineering courses. In the spring I taught the second half of a digital electronics course. In that course we spent considerable time working with Quartus, an Intel CAD system used to design digital circuits. 

Over the summer I had some time and experimented a bit with PLC Fiddle - a really nice

https://bit.ly/2xsAElk

online ladder logic simulator for testing, training, and code sharing. Using PLC Fiddle I’ve put together a set of logic gate simulations linked here. Using the simulations the user can turn inputs on and off for various logic gates (AND, OR, NAND, NOR, EXOR and NEXOR) and observe the outputs. Here’s a screen shot of the simulations. 

If you follow the link below the screen shot you'll go to the simluation website where you can turn Input 1 and Input 2 ON and OFF (OFF = Logic 0, ON = Logic 1) by clicking the boxes next to Input 1 and Input 2 in the left hand column. As you change the Inputs, watch how the Output changes for each gate type. 

I’m not teaching a digital course this semester but if you are - feel free to share and use the simulations in your classes. And - if you are a faculty person, current student, former student, already have your AS or AAS degree and want to continue, etc, etc and are interested in an excellent Engineering, Engineering Technology or Architecture BS degree program - I can help connect you with the right people at the University of Hartford. My Hartford email address is gosnyder@hartford.edu You can contact me any time!