Pellissippi State Foundation receives $15,000 for

Pellissippi State Foundation receives $15,000 for van work

The Pellissippi State Foundation has received $15,000 from the Alcoa Foundation to continue outfitting the College’s “Techno-Van.”

The Alcoa Foundation donated the funds recently to boost the quality of technical education at the College.

A multipurpose vehicle that offers a glimpse into the kind of advanced technology instruction provided by Pellissippi State, the van is used for demonstrations during high school visits and other recruitment activities and at trade shows and community events.

The College also plans to use it to give hands-on learning in advanced technology, as well as to reinforce effective communication skills.

For example, the van contains equipment that can demonstrate such capabilities as providing design for wireless networking of high-performance computers, designing interior spaces for industrial design technology and using global positioning systems software and hardware.

Besides benefiting the College’s high school recruiting efforts, the Techno-Van is expected to stimulate interest in Career/Technical programs during visits with companies and developers considering new construction in the region.

Several programs, including Electrical Engineering Technology, Geographic Information Systems, High Performance Computing and Mechanical Engineering Technology, take advantage of the high-tech vehicle.

The van also can provide a service to the community through partnerships that build the region’s economy.

Preliminary plans call for the vehicle to feature new technical innovations as they are incorporated into program areas. The vehicle also might help obtain grants for course improvement and be used in programs with various community partners.

Alcoa Inc., which has two plants in Blount County and a facility in Knoxville, is the world’s leading producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets. It has 131,000 employees in 43 countries.

Since 1952, the Alcoa Foundation has helped local communities with investments totaling $388 million, including $17 million in grants worldwide last year. Locally, the Alcoa Foundation and Alcoa Inc. awarded more than $300,000 in 2005 to organizations in Blount, Knox and other nearby counties in East Tennessee.

The Pellissippi State Foundation is the College’s main fund-raising organization.

"Inside Pellissippi" is a bi-monthly electronic publication produced by the Community Relations Office for the faculty and staff of Pellissippi State Technical Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, P.O. Box 22990, Knoxville, Tennessee 37933-0990. All suggestions and comments should be sent to Julia Wood (jwood@pstcc.edu).

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