Stevens receives $2.4 million in competitive state grants

Stevens Institute of Technology has been awarded two competitive High-Tech Workforce Excellence Grants totaling more than $2.4 million by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. The funding will be used by Stevens to help address two of the state's most critical needs: strong education and leadership in the development of new technologies, and the enhancement of K-12 science and mathematics education in schools that need it most.

The two grants awarded to Stevens were among only nine awarded statewide this year, selected from 45 proposals. Stevens' award-winning grants include:

• "$1,341,800 for "Implementation of Technogenesis^® in the Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum," a program that will enhance undergraduate engineering programs by aligning them with the institution's strategic direction.
• "$1,078,560 for "K-12 Partnership Enhancement," a program that will provide intensive professional development on the use of the Internet to science teachers from Abbott district schools in New Jersey, the state's 30 school districts designated for enhancements because of economic disadvantages.

"The winning proposals in this competition were reviewed by two separate teams of reviewers from both inside and outside the state," said Stevens' President, Dr. Harold J. Raveche.

"That an institution the size of Stevens would be awarded two of these nine grants speaks volumes about the excellence of our faculty," he said, "and it strongly validates the importance of our new institutional direction - education rooted in Technogenesis, a unique model in higher education that Stevens is developing today."

Technogenesis, a term trademarked by Stevens, is defined as "the educational frontier wherein students, faculty and industry jointly nurture new technologies from concept to realization." The High Tech Workforce Excellence Grant for implementing Technogenesis in undergraduate engineering will ultimately enhance Stevens' reputation for producing engineers who can innovate and lead in cutting-edge technological fields. The funds will be used to develop and implement project-based learning across the undergraduate curriculum, develop learning materials for entrepreneurship, and create a Product Innovation and Realization Center to develop student projects from concept to prototype.

The grant for the K-12 Partnership Enhancement project will assist some of New Jersey's most disadvantaged schools by strengthening teaching and learning in science, mathematics and other core subjects through the meaningful integration of Internet-based curriculum resources. Through the grant, Stevens' Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) will enhance its already highly successful K-12 Partnership Program. The program helps teachers use the Internet to create educational opportunities for educationally and economically disadvantaged students by increasing their interest and participation in science, math and technology education.

The funds will be used to provide training, on-site classroom support, and hardware to teachers in the neediest schools in the state, thereby helping to create the human capital needed to fuel New Jersey's high technology workforce. Half of the funds will go directly to fund computers and Internet connections for use at the schools.

For the past six years, CIESE has been engaged in regional and national programs to train teachers to integrate Internet resources into effective classroom learning. To date, the center has worked with more than 6,000 teachers.

In total, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education awarded nine grants totaling $14.3 million. The only other institution to receive two grants was Rutgers University. The grants are intended to help New Jersey colleges and universities develop nationally recognized programs in technology and to give area businesses the quality workforce they need.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University TM , lives at the intersection of industry, academics and research.  The University's students, faculty and partners leverage their collective real-world experience and culture of innovation, research and entrepreneurship to confront global challenges in engineering, science, systems and technology management.

Based in Hoboken, N.J. and with a location in Washington, D.C., Stevens offers baccalaureate, master’s, certificates and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences and management, in addition to baccalaureate degrees in business and liberal arts.  Stevens has been recognized by both the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Excellence in the areas of systems engineering and port security research. The University has a total enrollment of more than 2,200 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with almost 450 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America as well as strategic partnerships with industry leaders, governments and other universities around the world.  Additional information may be obtained at www.stevens.edu and www.stevens.edu/press.