Vineyard Wind
BARNSTABLE – As part of the Commonwealth’s STEM Week, Cape Cod Community College will be highlighting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs across the region as well as local efforts to expand green energy, including offshore wind.
The week is the fourth annual event of its kind hosted by the CONNECT Partnership.
That’s a coalition of southeastern Massachusetts region educational institutions including 4Cs, Bridgewater State University, Massasoit Community College, Bristol Community College, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
“We want to build familiarity and comfort around STEM. We want to show people some of the opportunities that are available and start priming people to think of those opportunities in terms of life skills and in terms of career objectives that people may be interested in,” said Cape Cod Community College President John Cox.
As part of STEM Week, 4Cs will host a tour of their Aviation Maintenance Technology program at Plymouth Municipal Airport on Tuesday from 9 am to 1 pm, which Cox said may see offshore wind turbine maintenance included in its syllabus in the future as projects like Vineyard Wind 1 continue development south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Following the tour, community members will be invited to mass Maritime to view the Global Wind Organization (GWO) Basic Safety Demonstrations on Climbing Heights and Crew Transfer.
On Wednesday, the Coalition will also hold a free, public Virtual Wind Symposium from 9 am to noon that invites high school and college students to learn about workforce development, technical assistance, entrepreneurship and business assistance.
The STEM Week is also an opportunity for outreach to more than just the student body, said Cox.
“It’s also an opportunity for people that have been out of school for a few years or they’re in other industries and looking at making that transition. We want to increase the outreach,” said Cox.
According to Cox, this year’s STEM Week highlighting renewable energy also showcases 4C’s own efforts to expand on technology to fight climate change, including the new Frank and Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center which has plans to be a net carbon negative facility.
Cape Cod Community College’s webpage on STEM Week can be found here.
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