PVCC Engineering Dept. leverage grant funds, increase student awareness

Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Department of Engineering has been accomplishing the goal set before them five years ago. That goal has been to increase student awareness about the engineering program. With the help of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant awarded to PVCC the department has held events, presentations and summer programs to get students involved. “Through all of this, there has been an 80 percent increase of students in engineering at Piedmont,” said Andrew Renshaw, liaison for the engineering program.

Unfortunately, the NSF grant reached the end last August. There is, however, a little grant money left that PVCC has been given an extended year to use. The Engineering Department is pulling out all of the stops for this year starting on Oct. 13. Five hundred high school students from the surrounding area will be arriving at the Dickinson Building for a presentation that includes a student panel and an engineering design challenge. For the remainder of their time, the students will be going on a Tech Tour of a local company showing the technology that is used on a daily basis.

The purpose is clear. As Renshaw said, “Get more students in, keep them and then move them on to a four year school.” With upcoming events and a year left to do as much as possible, the engineering department certainly has its hands full. The department is going forth in their endeavors to make as much out of this year as they can.

[Image courtesy of Stock.Xchng]