Educating Butler County’s workforce with new technology
Hands-on learning and state-of-the-art technology are some of the things driving local students to pursue a postsecondary education in Butler County at institutions such as Slippery Rock University and Butler County Community College.
Slippery Rock boasts its largest first-year class since 2019 and a record enrollment of graduate students this year, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education announced in early October.
“What we’re really pleased with, is (the growth) came from our primary market in Western Pa.,” said Amanda Yale, chief enrollment management officer.
“Our concentrated efforts are in growing programs and keeping up with market demand … paying attention to what the workforce is,” Yale said. “We want students to be retained and be successful.”
The university’s School of Engineering is one department experiencing the most growth, Yale said. Civil engineering and mechanical engineering programs saw their first classes graduate last spring.
“It's very exciting, very exciting, because (the programs) are basically new areas,” said Mohammad Kazemi, associate professor and director of SRU’s School of Engineering. “Our numbers didn't grow as much during the pandemic time, as we expected, but we've seen significant growth in our mechanical programs this year, so our numbers are actually doubled compared to the last year.”
The School of Engineering has new, state-of-the art laboratories. Most students in the programs are local to Pennsylvania, have family in the area and are choosing to stay and work here, Kazemi said.
“Students that go to these bigger schools, they eventually leave Western Pa.,” he said. “So they go join companies, in, I don't know, California … but basically, all of our students want to stay in the area. So we provide that workforce for Western Pa. at a low cost.”
Industrial jobs available in the region also help attract local students, he said.
“Pittsburgh is basically the hub for civil engineers, with a lot of construction happening, a lot of bridges,” Kazemi said. “We are in an area in which we have plenty of natural gas — a lot of petroleum companies are active in our area. So they hire our students, and we have a very good relationship with them. And most of our students actually stay in the area because they have plenty of industrial communication and industries exist in our area.”
Additionally, faculty plays an important role in the growth of the school, Kazemi said.
“We have one-on-one communication with the students,” Kazemi said. “So all of our courses are taught by (faculty members) who have a Ph.D., and students can have that direct communication with them all the time. So that creates, basically, an environment where they can feel that, you know, they're not just another number. We talk to them, we know them by name. And I think that that kind of distinguishes us from other schools in the area.”
The laboratories for petroleum and mechanical engineering were installed in 2018, Kazemi said. Mechanical and civil engineering programs received labs in 2021. Starting this fall, the department added three labs to its mechanical engineering program.
The new equipment is critical to student learning and also gives the university an advantage over other universities which might not have recently updated their labs, Kazemi said.
“Hands-on experience in engineering is very important,” Kazemi said. “We show students how it works, you know, by connecting theory to basically, practical aspects.”
Technology also is central to occupational programs at BC3.
Students enrolled in the two-year measurement science-metrology technology career program can expect to use a new optical comparator in the spring semester, said Bill Foley, coordinator of news and media content at BC3.
The $15,600 instrument was purchased with a federal Perkins Grant awarded by the state Department of Education, he said.
Kevin Ruediger, a BC3 professor and coordinator of the college’s program, said the optical comparator “works by using light and lenses to project a magnified shadow of an object to be measured onto a 14-inch glass screen.”
“If you’ve ever shared a microscope and tried to tell someone to look at a detail, it’s difficult because only one person can look at a time,” Ruediger said. “The optical comparator is top of the line. It makes it easier to see, easier to take measurements and easier to communicate with others about whether you are within tolerance or not.”
Within the program, students learn about the traceability of measurements, instrument calibration, precise laboratory procedures and can later gain employment as senior principal metrology engineers, research lab technicians, research engineering technicians and quality engineering technicians, Foley said.
BC3 is the only community college in the United States that offers an associate degree in metrology with triad coursework in chemical, electrical and dimensional metrology, Ruediger said.
In 2019, Foley said the BC3 Education Foundation received a $90,000 7-axis articulating arm coordinate measuring machine from Faro, a manufacturer of 3D measurement and imaging products.
The piece of equipment helps students measure things simultaneously in three dimensions, Ruediger said.
“It’s important for us in the occupational programs, in particular, to keep up to date with equipment so that it accurately portrays what the students are likely to see when they get out in industry,” said Matt Kovac, dean of BC3’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics division.
