MVCC Awarded $45,000 for creating Geospatial Technology Modules

The Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology (IAGT) at Cayuga County Community College has awarded MVCC with a $45,000 grant for the creation of geospatial modules to be used in non-traditional classroom setting. The funding comes from a NASA grant entitled: Enhancing Societal Benefit with NASA Earth Science and Geo-Spatial Information Technologies. The modules needed to be focused on the areas of homeland security and emergency management or the related topics of natural resource management, monitoring or forecasting, and risk, vulnerability and mitigation assessment. The funding will allow for faculty research, hardware and software purchases, and the funding of student assistants to help in data collection and research.

The completed modules are to be used in selected laboratory sections at MVCC. Assistant Professor, Brian Judycki, from the Engineering Technologies and Trades Department teamed up with Assistant Professor, Nicholas Gioppo, from the Life Science Department to create two separate modules.

Professor Judycki’s module is a GIS application for the location and analysis of critical infrastructure at Mohawk Valley Community College for emergency management. His module will be used in Construction Management (CT 243).

Professor Gioppo’s module will include the creation of a GIS application that shows the distribution and organization of the fossil rich Paleozoic rock units of the Mohawk Valley region in central New York, for the purpose of natural resource monitoring. This module will be used in the laboratory sections of Introduction to Physical Geology (GL 101) and Historical Geology (GL 102).

Mohawk Valley Community College has recently established a state of the art community GPS base station on top of the Academic Building on the College's Utica Campus. This new Continuous Operation Reference Station, or CORS, will allow Surveyors, Engineers, Planners, and other Geographic professionals to locate objects on the face of the earth to the sub-centimeter level with an ease and speed which was previously unavailable to them. The base station has been incorporated into the nationwide co-operative CORS, which provides a national network for the support of 3-D positioning activities.

The initial funding for the station was made possible through a Federal Perkins Grant. The Mohawk Valley Association of Professional Land Surveyors also contributed funds to purchase the software necessary to log the data and post it to the internet.

MVCC's degree in surveying technology offers training in land, engineering and construction surveying. Field and laboratory experiences include specific surveying topics such as MicroStation, global positioning systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). With the new system, students in the program now have access to almost cutting edge mapping technologies.

MVCC CORS DATA CAN BE ACCESSED AT

HTTP://STUDENT-SERV.MVCC.EDU/GPS

MVCC's Engineering Technologies and the Trades Department was the recipient of a $326,910 National Science Foundation ATE project grant. The award was announced by the 24th District Congressional Representative Sherwood Boehlert at a press conference held at MVCC in August 2004 This three-year project grant is being used to develop curriculum, courses and student laboratory experiences in Highly Automated Manufacturing technology to support the Electrical, Mechanical, and newly developed Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology programs in this department.

Through this grant, MVCC is partnering with the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Collaborative (MATEC) of Tempe, Arizona, eleven (11) other community colleges throughout the United States and with key industrial partners including Rockwell Automation/Allen Bradley, Intel, and others. A centerpiece of the project is the recently purchased HAS-200 Highly Automated Manufacturing Systems Trainer, a self-contained; computer controlled manufacturing facility capable of accepting orders, prioritizing delivery based on customer requirements, providing real-time statistical process control data, and allowing technicians to perform troubleshooting activities.

This is the only such system in New York State, and one of less than 20 throughout the United States. In the ensuing period since the grant was awarded, MVCC faculty Joseph Stadtmiller, William Judycki, and Robert Decker have developed a new programmable logic controller (PLC) laboratory to simulate portions of the HAS-200 and provide students with more hands-on experiences with PLC's, I/O devices, human-machine interfaces (HMI), and industrial Ethernet devices used for communication in the system. New laboratory activities are being developed to integrate these facilities into the existing curriculum in order to prepare technicians for the manufacturing environment of the future.

Our dedicated labs (AB 129 & AB 132) have the following industry standard software available:

• ArcGIS 9.2 with the following extensions: 3D Analyst, Spatial Analyst, Image Analyst, Stereo Analyst, Survey Analyst, and Geo-Statistical Analyst. This software is used for GIS mapping.
• AutoCad 2008 including Land Desktop, Mechanical Desktop, Architectural Desktop, and Map 3D. This software is used for both 2D and 3D computer-aided design and drafting, Architectural and Civil drafting as well as Mechanical drafting.
• Carlson Survey 2004 This software is used for surveying applications
• Microstation V8 XM This software is the NYSDOT standard software that is used for computer-aided drafting and design (CADD).
• MasterCAM RX2 This software is used for our CNC milling program
• SolidWorks 2007 This software is a 3D modeling software that is used in our Mechanical Technology classes.

Civil/Survey Technology

• 4 Thales Survey Grade GPS Receivers
• 6 Leica Total Stations
• 7 Leica Theodolites
• 12 Automatic Levels
• 7 Garmin E-Trex Legend Mapping GPS Receivers
• 2 TopCon Real-Time Kinematic GPS Receivers
• 2 Trimble Geo-XH

Starting in the Fall of 2006 is our NEW Super Pavement Laboratory

MVCC will be one of only a few colleges in New York State to have a fully operational QC/QA super-pave (Superior Performance Asphalt Pavements) lab for instruction with respect to the use of super-pave in design and construction of transportation projects. Super-pave is a performance based asphalt specifications to directly relate laboratory analysis with field performance. MVCC’s lab is in conformance with NYSDOT specifications. We welcome all students to experience this new technology.

Elecrtical Technology

• 8 Tektronix Digital Phosphor Oscilloscopes
• 1 Audio Precision ATS-2 Audio Test and Measurement System

Mechanical Technology(CNC Equipment)

• Haas VFO 4 Axis vertical machining center
• Hurco MB-I vertical CNC mill
• MHP CNC Lathe with Fanuc Controller
• Hardinge Talent 6/45 3 Axis Lathe with live tooling

MVCC has created to two new courses in the Engineering Technologies & Trades Department to support the rapidly growing $2 Billion dollar industry of Geo-Spatial Technologies. http://www.daratech.com/press/releases/2004/041019.html

GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems. It is a powerful computer mapping application that explores various geographic datasets. It is used in a variety of professional disciplines ranging from Homeland Security, Engineering, Surveying, Real Estate, Science, Construction, Marketing, HealthCare, Federal, State, and Local Government.

Department Head Frank Przybycien says, “Integrating this technology with our Civil and Survey students will put them on the cutting edge for a career path.?/p>

Civil/Surveying Technology

• CT 265 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (Fall)
• CT 266 Capstone GIS (Spring)

Electrical Technology Online Courses

• ET 163 Audio Technology
• ET 254 C Programming for Technology
• ET106 Science of Sound