UT at Chattanooga department head wins $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation
The funding will allow at least 120 high school students from counties in rural Southeast Tennessee to explore careers in engineering and technology.
Thanks to an $800,000 award from the National Science Foundation, at least 120 high school students from counties in rural Southeast Tennessee will be able to explore careers in engineering and technology.
The initiative, known as EXPAND TN (Experiential Learning in Advanced Manufacturing Towards Novel and Diverse Career Opportunities for Rural Tennessee Students), was successfully proposed by Dr. Bradley Harris, Director of the Chemical Engineering program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC).
The program is a multi-institutional collaboration between UTC, Cleveland State Community College, and the PIE Innovation Center — a first-of-its-kind workforce development hub. The three are working together with local industry to address an anticipated workforce shortage in advanced manufacturing. Success at the end of the three-year project could lead to replication elsewhere in the U.S.
EXPAND TN will allow the high school students to participate in a six-week, hands-on learning program as part of a dual enrollment mathematics course offered by Cleveland State to high schools in three rural districts, which primarily serve low-income, first-generation students.
Upon successful completion of the dual enrollment course, students from the class can apply for a paid, six-week summer internship with industry partners at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year. These students also will be eligible for college scholarships if they pursue an engineering or advanced technologies degree at Cleveland State or UTC.
Click here to learn more about EXPAND TN.
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