Leadership for a Global Workforce: Three International Collaboration Projects
Moderator: Pierre Thiry, MPICT Center 1. Computing in the Scottish Highlands
Deborah Boisvert, BATEC and Mike Just, Glasgow Caledonian University
2. Networking with Paris - ICT Project with Centre des Formations Industrielles Michael McKeever, MPICT and Cécile Montier, CFI Paris-Gambetta
3. Renewable Energy in Agriculture in Denmark Jeremy Pickard and Marshall McDonald, ATEEC, Eastern Iowa CCD and Ove Gejl Christensen, Dalum College
RFP March 2010
• “On a competitive basis, NSF’s Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) will consider requests for supplemental funding to ATE Center awards to support high quality international educational experiences for small groups of U.S. community college students and their faculty mentors through active collaboration with counterpart technology educators at their respective international sites…..
• For this pilot opportunity, international collaborators and sites must be located in Europe. We anticipate making five supplemental awards.
Supplemental funding requests should describe: ……… The plan to assess the impact of the
international activities, to encourage participants to stay engaged in science and engineering, and to disseminate the results of the collaboration;
Leadership for a Global Workforce: Computing in the Scottish Highlands
Deborah Boisvert
Executive Director
BATEC, Boston
2011 ATE Principle Investigators Conference, 26-28 October 2011
Mike Just
Assistant Professor
GCU, Glasgow, UK
Our Project
• International Collaboration Project between – Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) – Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) – University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB)
• Four-week exchange of BHCC students to GCU in Glasgow
• Students tasked with computing projects in GCU areas of expertise
• Cultural experience in Scotland
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 5
BATEC Service Area Community Colleges • Massachusetts
– Roxbury CC
– Bunker Hill CC
– Middlesex CC
– Mass Bay CC
– Quinsigamond CC
– Bristol CC
– Northern Essex CC
• Now Adding – City Colleges of Chicago
– City College of San Francisco
– College of Southern Nevada
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 6
Current Partners
About BATEC • National Center for IT and Computing (funded September 2011) • Vision:
BATEC is scaling its coordinated, self-sustaining, regional IT education and workforce system – one that attracts a diverse student population to IT careers, promotes lifelong learning of technical skills and supports the IT workforce needs in urban cities across our country.
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 7
About BATEC • Curriculum and Professional Development
– Regionally Connected; Transferable – Advanced in Content and Pedagogy
• IT Problem-Solving; Computational Thinking • IT Seamless Pathways that are Stackable • IT Intersections – Forensics, Health, Business
– Industry-Linked
• Education, Industry and Community Connections – Mutually-Beneficial Partnerships – Career Development – Lifelong Learning – Regional Economic Growth
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 8
About GCU
• Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) – Officially formed in 1993. History dating to 1875.
– Centrally located in downtown Glasgow
– Approx. 17,000 students, including 2,000 international students from over 100 countries
– Career-focused, industry-linked programmes, with recognized research reputation
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 9
GCU – School of Engineering
• School of Engineering and Built Environment – More than 100 academic staff
– Programmes and research in computing, energy and environment, interaction, and engineering
– Theory and hands-on teaching
– Bachelors (BA/BSc), Masters (MA/MSc/MPhil), PhD degrees, and Postgraduate Diplomas (PgD)
– Support direct entry at 2nd/3rd year from colleges within Scotland and internationally
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 10
Computing Projects
• Seven computing projects for nine students – At least one GCU staff for each project
– BHCC supervisor resident at GCU
• Project topic areas – Web programming
– Networking
– Digital security
• Mix of applied and research projects
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 11
Management of Computing Projects
• Projects and resources – Skills match in advance of visit – GCU computing resources, and personal devices
• Staff-student interactions varied – Supervisor + lab instructor, regular meetings – Interaction with a client – Check-in with BHCC resident supervisor
• Students encouraged to follow 9-5 workday • Result: Software and documentation
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 12
Scottish Cultural Experience
• Wednesday afternoons, and weekends
• Visits to Edinburgh, Stirling, Highlands
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 13
What Went Well (1)
• Students well-prepared for projects (skills)
• Students adapted well to work environment (maturity)
• Students enjoyed overall experience – Culture
– Downtown city campus
– Surroundings and regional history
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 14
What Went Well (2)
• Students enjoyed academic experience – University environment and facilities
– New skills learned
– Problem solving and collaboration
• Relationship built between institutions – Trust built from this initial project
– Momentum for future opportunities
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 15
Areas for Improvement
• Timing and schedule alignment – More interaction with local students – Better alignment re: staff holidays
• Entry to the UK – Missing “letter of invitation” to BHCC supervisor – Preparation for non-US citizens
• Small number of students – Though good for initial relationship-building
• Resident supervisor not necessary for full duration
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 16
Looking Ahead
• BHCC students registered to GCU networking learning environment
• Future student exchanges – Repeat of same model, with more students – GCU student exchange to BHCC/UMB
• Staff exchanges – Especially in areas of complementary expertise
• PhD exchanges – Especially in areas of shared expertise
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 17
Leadership for a Global Workforce:
Networking with Paris
Pierre Thiry MPICT P.I.– City College of San Francisco
Michael McKeever – Santa Rosa Junior College
Cécile Montier – Centre des Formations Industrielles
Leadership for a Global Workforce
MPICT’s mission is to coordinate, promote and improve the quality of ICT education, with an emphasis on 2-year colleges, in a region consisting of northern California, northern Nevada, southern Oregon, Hawaii and the Pacific Territories.
Leadership for a Global Workforce
About CFI : One of the 11 Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry schools
One of the 5 technical training schools along with Tecomah, EGF and Gobelins
School for Industrial Maintenance Technician Jobs
CFI offers training courses in six professional fields (Business networks and Corporate telecommunications, Energy engineering, Industrial vehicle and car maintenance, Lift maintenance, Woodwork and Building layout, Plastics industry)
Open to students and professionals attending continuing education courses
Leadership for a Global Workforce
All the diploma are prepared in apprenticeship Apprenticeship : Students from 16 to 25 are employees
Organisation :
Two weeks in school : the program is not specific but we insist on general subjects
Two weeks in firm : Sutdents have to find the job in touch with their studies and they have to keep it! They are paid
We teach know-how and social skills
Key figures :
– Exam Success rate : 88% (2011)
– Work integration rate: 85% on average
– Breaches of contract rate : 6% (2010-2011)
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Positioning A close relationship with professional organisations and leading companies:
We offer training programs tailored to the market needs
We provide specific vocational certificates
We receive grants and apprenticeship taxes
Leadership for a Global Workforce
International programs Eurotruck : advanced vocational training
diploma for industrial vehicles
• Three European partnerships
• ANFA partnership
• Léonardo (ECVET) financing program
Exchange programs
• BASF Germany / Advanced vocational training diploma in Plastics industry
• United States City College of San Francisco / Computer Architect / CISCO
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Paris France Project, US Goals: US and French students differentiate their
respective ICT educational systems and workplace environments.
Students develop and enhance their “soft-skills”
Students implement and demonstrate the use of advanced technologies
US and FR instructors integrate each other’s “best practices”
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Paris France Project, US Objectives: Develop a “Scalable” Problem-Based-Learning course Conduct the course using online synchronous delivery and
conclude in-person in France Student teams formally present their course solutions in-
person at Cisco HQ Paris and remotely using TelePresence Visit French ICT workplaces
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Paris France Project, US Objectives: Required Web-based structured
student diaries to be kept during the project, to document pre-visit, visit (for the selected students) and post-visit, documenting changes in perception and appreciation of technical and cultural differences especially as they relate to workplace success
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Paris France Project, US Outcomes: Gain firsthand knowledge of how other countries organize
Career Technical Education and, in particular, ICT education in the absence of community colleges
Distillation of the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the French technical education system and workplace environment as seen by faculty and students
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Paris France Project US Outcomes: Establish a collaboration between a group of 24 ICT students selected from the MPICT Regional Partner community colleges and a cohort of 18 students in the "Informatique et Reseaux" Programm from the "Centre de Formations Industrielles (CFI)" in Paris-Gambetta, France Invite students and graduates of the Cisco Networking Academy on both continents to participate in an experimental, capstone, project-based course, using case a study especially designed for this purpose
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Paris France Project US Outcomes: The opportunity for students in technology to participate in
collaborative learning experience with students from a European country - experiences often reserved only for liberal arts students.
The opportunity for students, teachers, and the institution to broaden their experience base through development of problem-based instructional experiences using a variety of real-world, concurrent, trans-national inputs and assets
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Paris France Project US Outcomes: Improvement in student engagement and
enrichment of student learning outcomes due to the unique opportunity to connect with their French counterparts
Improved understanding of the organization and delivery of technical education in the EU that could find application within or beyond the MPICT footprint
Leadership for a Global Workforce
What Happened: Culture exchanges and understandings
Invited back to weddings! US students applied for FR jobs Student initiated discussion, “Where is
it better to work, US or FR?” “The biggest surprise for me was learning how
many network jobs were available in France and how high the demand for Cisco trained workers was. This was a big surprise to me and after learning of this I am going to try and get into an exchange program to come and work in France.” – JM
Leadership for a Global Workforce
What Happened: Learned and deployed advanced
tech in their team projects “At the end of day two we had a
show stopping technical issue (will save the details). In short, we had an issue with routing and had to solve it. There was the hard way and the harder way. I decided the harder way and ran it by the team.” – SK
Leadership for a Global Workforce
What Happened: The Soft-Skills “I learned that when working on a team project that it is
very important to let everyone contribute and to be open and receptive to new ideas and suggestions, even if you do not necessarily agree. For everyone to get the most value of the project and teamwork, it is important for everyone to participate. If a person is reluctant, they just may be a little shy and/or not confident, if encouraged, they may open up a little more.” – ESM
Leadership for a Global Workforce
What Happened: Use of technology in education –time zones, synchronous “Everything I needed as a student was available to me at
anytime on any computer with a net connection. It is times like this, I really enjoy my field and wish other class were taught like this...” – SK
Leadership for a Global Workforce
What Happened: Cultural Exchanges
“The three lessons that I've learned as a result of this international experience: First, The balance of life and work, second, communication skills towards non-English speakers and third, the appreciation of what we have in America and the freedom to do what you want and what we want to be.” – SJB
“I found it amazing how alike Americans are to the French when dealing with Technical topics.
I found that the French have an interesting take on life; After the work day is over they forget all about there work life and move on to socialize. I noticed in France that being social and meeting with friends is an essential part of the day. It is almost like they live two separate lives, a work life and a social life.” – JE
Leadership for a Global Workforce
What Happened: What we learned from each other Cultures, expectation and county core values might seem
to make a difference in the students’ efforts, but in both countries, those who strive and put in the extra effort get the better jobs
Leadership for a Global Workforce
I saw more learning when the teams were engaged than in most of my other classes!!!
Student transformations!
What Happened: Scaling the project Gave the entire course away to 50 US instructors Proposal to collaborate with China in 2012 Half the cost Lessons learned applied Real time Google translations Change scenario Train teachers in use of distance tool Long term partnership
Leadership for a Global Workforce
What Happened: “To Michael, Pierre, Daniela,
Richard, Grace, everyone at Accent I thank you very much. This is one of the moments where a group of people or teachers change a student’s life and I know I am not the only one on this trip. Thank you.” – SK
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Evaluation of the partnership by the students – In the technical plan:
• Tools and modules of training CISCO are the same • On the other hand, the remote work and the work in project mode with
French-American teams was a challenge of organization and communication
– In the professional plan: • The French Students became aware of the place of their formative
company • The testimonies on their companies were precious for them between
them,
– From the cultural point of view • The French people appreciated to discover another organization of the
schooling with a wide place made for the sport, another approach are holidays, taxes
• The students of Paris confirmed their interest for the spare time
Leadership for a Global Workforce
The appreciation by the teachers – Difficulties:
• To convince the French students to put a lot on a project which does not enter the evaluation of the training
• Difficult jet lag for the remote courses
– Satisfactions: • The very professional presentations of the
solutions proposed by the teams
• The enthusiasm of the students to work when they met all together
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Evaluation of the partnership by the Management
– The material aspects of the journey in France managed by an outside company what allowed to concentrate on the project
– The organization of the companies visits was facilitated by: • The country of origin of the group = > These visits would not be
possible for French students! • The good connections maintained by the teachers with their
alumni – The project is rewarding for the teachers – The students pull a real profit : will to go abroad – It is a real pleasure to work with a smiling and enthusiastic group
Leadership for a Global Workforce
Evaluation by TSI The Saflund Institute Summer 2011 , Digital Bridge Sister
Cities Project DUE 0802298 ,Supplemental Award
Available in electronic format See us at MPICT booth or
afterwards
Leadership for a Global Workforce
NSF ATE Center Collaboration
Study Abroad to Denmark June 5 – July 2, 2011
Overview
• 15 participants – 5 Faculty Members
– 10 Students
• Representing five Community College from Across the Nation
Overview
• Representing Five States: – California
Mt. San Jacinto College – Iowa
Eastern Iowa Community Colleges – Indiana
Ivy Tech Community College – New York
SUNY Cobleskill College of Agriculture and Technology
– North Carolina Central Carolina Community College
Overview
• Spent 25 days in Denmark studying renewable energy in agriculture – Based out of two towns
• Sonderborg (pop. 30,000)
• Odense (pop. 175,000)
• Copenhagen (pop. 1.9 million)
– Hosted by two Colleges • Dalum College – Agricultural Training College
• EUC Syd – Vocational and Technical Training College
Lely Astronaut Robotic Milking Dairy
• Calmer more comfortable cows
• Increased Milk production
• Cows are in the production longer
• Cows are milked more often each day (4 times per day)
• Shift the human labor resources to additional farm duties and/or time with family which the Danish value
Jersey Herd using Robotic Milking Units
Benefits of Robotic Milking
• The cost of each milking machine is approximately $200,000
• Each Robotic Machine will accommodate 60 cows
• 60 X $324 = $19,440 60 X $648 = $38,880
• The Robotic machine could pay for itself in 4 – 6 years if you factor in labor costs
• Is it a good investment in the long term?
Do the Math
Higher Production = Higher Profits
Project Zero Sonderborg, Germany
• The vision – Create a carbon neutral Sonderborg by 2029 – Create new jobs in related businesses
• Based on – Intelligent Energy Equipment – Comprehensive pig farming
• Founders/sponsors – Sønderborg Municipality – Nordea Denmark-foundation – Local agriculture/farmers – SYD ENERGI – regional utility company – DONG Energy – power generation and distribution – Bitten & Mads Clausens fond – the main owners of Danfoss
• www.projectzero.dk
Project Zero
Wirtschaftsakademie Training Center for
Wind Turbine Technicians Husum, Germany
• BZEE was the first program standard for wind technician training programs.
• The training center in Husum was the first in the world.
BZEE Training Center
Nacelle top rescue training apparatus; training tower
Blade Repair Shop
Daka Biodiesel
• Rendered Animal Fat from processing plant next door
• 10 MGY Capacity • Products from Daka Biodiesel:
– Biodiesel – Heating Oil – Glycerin – Potassium Sulfate
• Utilizes post-transesterificaton distillation of biodiesel for improved cold weather performance
Daka Biodiesel www.dakabiodiesel.com
Animal Fat Feedstock
Finished Fuel
Inbicon Biomass Refinery
• Ethanol facility using straw for feedstock
• Utilizes custom enzymes for conversion of cellulosic material into more easily fermentable sugars.
• 10MGY pilot facility
Inbicon Biomass Refinery www.inbicon.com
Biogas via Anaerobic Digestion
Observations of Danish and German Practices
(with some contrast to the U.S.)
• AD practiced on farms in Denmark and Germany; more common there compared to U.S. farms
• Typically sited on an individual farm but a few centralized digesters also exists which process manure from several local farms
• AD system tends to be owned by the farmer with or without additional partners
• The practice is subsidized through the price received for electricity; other subsidies may also be in place
• Electricity price depends on feedstock and region but generally higher than retail electric rate.
Prevalence and Incentives
• AD can be a profit center for the farm
• In some cases, farm appears to operate as an “energy farm,” the traditional farm enterprises (e.g. pigs) seem secondary
• In any case, farm obtains the benefit of energy for farm operations and can export the surplus energy
• AD expected to expand on farms in future (“manure = gold” news article)
• The structure of the subsidies influence the feedstocks digested and how the energy is used • favor generation of electricity
• higher price for energy from biomass crops than energy from manure
Economic Drivers
This pig farm operates 5 digesters, fed with pig manure and corn silage grown for the digesters. The farm serves as an energy center producing electricity and heat for the surrounding community (delivered via underground network of hot water pipes). The digesters are a major profit center for the farm.
Questions?
Lely Astronaut Robotic Milking Dairy
Biogas fueled boiler at the Dalum Agriculture College. The digester produces biogas from the school’s manure.
This corn silage is grown for the purpose of feeding it to the anaerobic digester, not for feeding cows. Growing crops for digestion is rare, if not unheard of, in the U.S.
Corn silage is fed into these parallel hoppers, from which it is fed into a grinder and then conveyed into the digesters.
Biodigesters creating gas for electrical production.
Farm digesters in the Danish landscape. Visible from the road. Not an uncommon sight (at least more common than it would be in the U.S.)
Inbicon Biomass Refinery
Sonderborg harbor
Roadside shot of wind turbines
Hay barn covered with Photovoltaics; from Germany.
Solar thermal system in Aeroskobing. 18,000 square meters of solar thermal provide much of the hot water needs for the town. It’s one of the largest solar thermal plants in the world.
Offshore wind turbine components on a barge
Waste water treatment plant in Sonderborg
Municipal waste being used to produce electricity and heat at Vattenfall Energy Plant. No new landfills are being created in Denmark. All municipal waste is now being burned for energy instead of being buried.
Danish Crown Meat Processing
Wind Turbine Technician Training Equipment, Wirtschaftsakademie
Egeskov Castle
Leadership for a Global Workforce: Computing in the Scottish Highlands
Deborah Boisvert
Executive Director
BATEC, Boston
2011 ATE Principle Investigators Conference, 26-28 October 2011
Mike Just
Assistant Professor
GCU, Glasgow, UK
Our Project
• International Collaboration Project between – Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) – Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) – University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB)
• Four-week exchange of BHCC students to GCU in Glasgow
• Students tasked with computing projects in GCU areas of expertise
• Cultural experience in Scotland
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 2
BATEC Service Area Community Colleges • Massachusetts
– Roxbury CC
– Bunker Hill CC
– Middlesex CC
– Mass Bay CC
– Quinsigamond CC
– Bristol CC
– Northern Essex CC
• Now Adding – City Colleges of Chicago
– City College of San Francisco
– College of Southern Nevada
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 3
Current Partners
About BATEC • National Center for IT and Computing (funded September 2011) • Vision:
BATEC is scaling its coordinated, self-sustaining, regional IT education and workforce system – one that attracts a diverse student population to IT careers, promotes lifelong learning of technical skills and supports the IT workforce needs in urban cities across our country.
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 4
About BATEC • Curriculum and Professional Development
– Regionally Connected; Transferable – Advanced in Content and Pedagogy
• IT Problem-Solving; Computational Thinking • IT Seamless Pathways that are Stackable • IT Intersections – Forensics, Health, Business
– Industry-Linked
• Education, Industry and Community Connections – Mutually-Beneficial Partnerships – Career Development – Lifelong Learning – Regional Economic Growth
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 5
About GCU
• Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) – Officially formed in 1993. History dating to 1875.
– Centrally located in downtown Glasgow
– Approx. 17,000 students, including 2,000 international students from over 100 countries
– Career-focused, industry-linked programmes, with recognized research reputation
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 6
GCU – School of Engineering
• School of Engineering and Built Environment – More than 100 academic staff
– Programmes and research in computing, energy and environment, interaction, and engineering
– Theory and hands-on teaching
– Bachelors (BA/BSc), Masters (MA/MSc/MPhil), PhD degrees, and Postgraduate Diplomas (PgD)
– Support direct entry at 2nd/3rd year from colleges within Scotland and internationally
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 7
Computing Projects
• Seven computing projects for nine students – At least one GCU staff for each project
– BHCC supervisor resident at GCU
• Project topic areas – Web programming
– Networking
– Digital security
• Mix of applied and research projects
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 8
Management of Computing Projects
• Projects and resources – Skills match in advance of visit – GCU computing resources, and personal devices
• Staff-student interactions varied – Supervisor + lab instructor, regular meetings – Interaction with a client – Check-in with BHCC resident supervisor
• Students encouraged to follow 9-5 workday • Result: Software and documentation
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 9
Scottish Cultural Experience
• Wednesday afternoons, and weekends
• Visits to Edinburgh, Stirling, Highlands
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 10
What Went Well (1)
• Students well-prepared for projects (skills)
• Students adapted well to work environment (maturity)
• Students enjoyed overall experience – Culture
– Downtown city campus
– Surroundings and regional history
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 11
What Went Well (2)
• Students enjoyed academic experience – University environment and facilities
– New skills learned
– Problem solving and collaboration
• Relationship built between institutions – Trust built from this initial project
– Momentum for future opportunities
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 12
Areas for Improvement
• Timing and schedule alignment – More interaction with local students – Better alignment re: staff holidays
• Entry to the UK – Missing “letter of invitation” to BHCC supervisor – Preparation for non-US citizens
• Small number of students – Though good for initial relationship-building
• Resident supervisor not necessary for full duration
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 13
Looking Ahead
• BHCC students registered to GCU networking learning environment
• Future student exchanges – Repeat of same model, with more students – GCU student exchange to BHCC/UMB
• Staff exchanges – Especially in areas of complementary expertise
• PhD exchanges – Especially in areas of shared expertise
27 October 2011 ATE PI Conference 14