To support the Convergence Lab Initiative’s (CLI) need for entry-level students to support advanced projects, CTEWorkforce has been awarded a 12-month project to collaborate with local high school and community college students via the YourCareerCounselor™ platform. Funded by a grant from the Department of Defense, CLI is a cross-disciplinary institute bringing together scientists, engineers, and technicians to solve pressing defense challenges for the U.S.
“This program has been developed to teach students how to break down industry silos to facilitate work across subject areas,” said Nibir K. Dhar, Ph.D., electrical and computer engineering professor and CLI program lead. “What we found in CTEWorkforce was the perfect partner to help us deliver on this goal via use of their technology, processes, and past successes in the area of experiential learning.”
CTEWorkforce will work collaboratively with CLI leadership to build the qualified student capacity for CLI projects with the skills and aptitude necessary for receiving accelerated learning at VCU. The initial cohort for this program will be fifteen students who are participating in an experiential learning program to gain the skills and knowledge to perform tests, evaluations, and support functions that aid CLI.
These students will be prepared for CLI R&D, testing and evaluation, and will receive hands-on experiential learning at VCU while working on projects alongside VCU technical teams via the VCU Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) model. CTEWorkforce will provide program development and implementation support via subject matter expertise and access to online learning tools and proprietary technology services and platforms.
The final part of the program will allow student participants to solve real-world challenges through the development of incremental innovations designed to assess participants’ critical thinking capability.
