In order to spark interest in engineering and related disciplines and prepare Riverside Community College (RCC) students to succeed at Cal Poly Pomona (CPP), we are working to establish 1) a pre-engineering course at RCC and 2) a lecture series at RCC, delivered by CPP faculty. The result will be increased faculty and student awareness of the engineering and related STEM departments and programs at CPP, an increased number of engineering and STEM transfer students from RCC, and higher retention rates for participating students.
Pre-Engineering Course at RCC
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a nationally recognized pre-engineering program that introduces students to engineering and other STEM fields through project-based, hands-on experiences. CPP has been selected to be one of the PLTW coordinating centers for California. The CPP College of Engineering is leading this CSU-wide partnership by offering PLTW curriculum training to RCC faculty as well high school teachers during summer quarters. Participating instructors will be taught by trainers who have been certified by the national PLTW organization. Read more about the
PLTW and CPP partnership.
Cal Poly Pomona is now the second university in California to offer PLTW Summer Training. Starting June 2009, Cal Poly Pomona began facilitating training for more than 70 teachers in four different engineering and technology subjects including Introduction to Engineering Design (IED), Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), Principles of Engineering (POE), and Gateway to Technology (GTT). Among the teachers participating in the training were two faculty from RCC, who are working to implement the POE course starting Spring 2010 at RCC. Read more about PLTW Summer Training Institute in a
recent article.
RCC faculty Chip Herzig and Charity Trojanowski working on a project using a Fischertechnic Kit, which was used for many Project Lead The Way student projects that they designed, built, and programmed while participating in the POE training.
CPP is collaborating with RCC to help transfer students be better prepared to succeed in engineering. Involved in the effort are faculty and administrators from both colleges: (shown from left to right) Dr. Mariappan Jawaharlal, faculty from CPP, Chip Herzig and Charity Trojanowski, faculty from RCC, and Dr. Cordelia Ontiveros, Associate Dean for the College of Engineering at CPP.
Lecture Series at RCC
As RCC students prepare to transfer to CPP, they will attend a CPP lecture series offered by faculty and students, which will include STEM topics as well as general CPP orientation information.
One faculty member presented a seminar in Winter 2009. Remaining seminars will take place in Winter and Spring 2010.
In November 2009, representatives from CPP and RCC met at the new RCC STEM Center (photo left) to discuss the seminar series.
Participants (photo below: left to right) included: Botra Moeung, RCC Counselor, Virginia McKee-Leone, RCC Dean of Instruction,
Chip Herzig, RCC Faculty, Alicia Hansell, CPP Staff, Kathy Nabours, RCC Faculty and STEM Center Program Director, Dr. Patrick
Schwerdtfeger, RCC VP for Academic Affairs, Dr. Cordelia Ontiveros, CPP Engineering Associate Dean, Nick Theiss, CPP Mechanical
Engineering Student, and Charity Trojanowski, RCC Faculty.
For questions about Project Lead The Way, please contact
Dr. Cordelia Ontiveros (CPP Associate Dean, College of Engineering contiveros@csupomona.edu