EDWARDSVILLE – Congressman Rodney Davis will join Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe and Lewis and Clark Community College President Dale Chapman to celebrate the institutions’ ongoing partnership at an event at the NCERC at SIUE on Tuesday, June 23.
In October 2014, the DOL awarded a $9,956,011 grant to SIUE as part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) initiative. The grant provides funding for the Building Illinois’ Bioeconomy (BIB) consortium, which is comprised of five higher education institutions spanning the state of Illinois: SIUE, Lewis and Clark Community College (L&C) in Godfrey, Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) in Springfield, Carl Sandburg College (CSC) in Galesburg and Southeastern Illinois College (SIC) in Harrisburg.
In June, BIB schools, federal and state lawmakers, Illinois agency heads and employer partners will come together for a project celebration, set to coincide with hands-on student training at the NCERC at SIUE, a nationally recognized research center dedicated to the development and commercialization of biofuels and other renewable compounds. During the grant-funded training, students from L&C’s Process Operations Technology (PTEC) program will utilize the pilot plant as a “micro-refinery” to gain hands-on training on critical unit operations used in the petroleum, ethanol, and other PTEC industries.
The Building Illinois Bioeconomy consortium is 100 percent funded through a $10 million Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grant.
About Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT)
This round of funding builds on the Obama Administration’s focus on job-driven training by requiring grantees to expand employer engagement throughout the grant process. These employer and industry partners have identified necessary skills and competencies and will assist in designing curricula, programs, assessments or credentials that will help quickly connect ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.
The grants will expand programs in growing industries, such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and health care, and encourage geographic and industry sector collaboration. All course materials developed using these public funds will be available as Open Educational Resources so that others can access and build on successful training models. A White House fact sheet is available for further details.
About Lewis and Clark Community College
Lewis and Clark Community College is a two-year higher education institution with multiple campuses, a river research center, Community Education Centers and training centers located throughout the 220,439-person college district, which reaches into seven counties.
L&C offers numerous transfer options and more than 40 career programs, including Process Operations Technology. L&C’s Process Operations Technology program was developed in collaboration with Phillps66 in Wood River and in consultation with the North American Process Technology Alliance (NAPTA) and the Sigma Aldrich partnership, which resulted in a professional and focused plan of study. Process technicians learn the operations of furnaces, distillation columns, reboilers, heat exchangers, steam systems and cooling-water systems – the essential elements of all process industries. Graduates of L&C’s nationally accredited program are qualified for a career in the nationally critical field of petroleum refining, oil and gas production, petrochemicals production, biochemical produces, base chemicals productions and power generation.
About the NCERC
The NCERC at SIUE is a nationally recognized research center dedicated to the development and commercialization of biofuels, specialty chemicals and other renewable compounds. The Center’s fully functional dry grind pilot plant and laboratories are equipped with advanced biofuels capabilities including corn fractionation, pretreatment, and a fermentation suite with 5, 30, 150 and 1500L scale-up. Facilities are staffed by industry veterans with more than 100 years of collective experience in fermentation and biofuels production. This knowledgeable team has the flexibility and expertise to design and carry out projects in any region of the advanced biofuels or specialty chemicals space. For more information, contact Courtney Breckenridge, (618) 659-6737 ext. 230,cbreckenridge@ethanolresearch.com, or visithttp://www.ethanolresearch.com.
About SIUE
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.
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