Eau Claire (WQOW) - A local college is rolling out a new-look program about a small science.
For the past three years, Chippewa Valley Technical College has been reviewing its Nanoscience program. The program was first introduced in 2005.
"It was a broad-based Nanoscience program, so it addressed Nanoscience in agricultural technology, manufacturing technology," says Mark Hendrickson, Chippewa Valley Technical College Education Director and Dean of Manufacturing.
Since that time, things have changed in the industry.
"We focused and identified the food processing industry," says Hendrickson. "That seems to be one of the largest employer segments of a graduate that had these skills."
To meet the demands, CVTC is revamping its curriculum to include food processing.
"There's a lot of sanitization that goes on in the food industry, so production leads, technicians, technologists often times work with projects that check the quality of the food process lines," says Hendrickson.
There is also a new program for plastics and metal manufacturing, along with some tweaks in the college's technology engineering program.
"Companies that would traditionally be in the electronics industry, microchips and biotechnology and micro-level materials," says Hendrickson.
The three programs are set up to share the same courses the first year, so if a student decides to change their mind they could easily transition into a different program.
The revamped program should also help students transfer to a four-year college if they choose to.
All the changes should help better prepare students for the future.
"I think that's a benefit for the students as well as the industries," says Hans Mikelson, Chippewa Valley Technology Nanoscience Department Chair. "The roll of the technical college system is to support local industries and that's what this change is enabling us to do."
CVTC hopes to have all three programs available for students to enroll in this fall.
