Gwinnett Tech to Host 2007 Summer Biotechnology Academy
Workshops will help teachers better educate secondary students in growing field of bioscience
Gwinnett Technical College is hosting the 2007 Summer Biotechnology Academy this month, the first initiative of a multi-million dollar national grant the college received in conjunction with Athens Technical College earlier this year.
Scheduled for June 12, 13 and 14 on the campus of Gwinnett Tech, the Summer Biotechnology Academy will be the first of a series of workshops to approximately two dozen high school teachers from surrounding counties.
The Academy will prepare teachers to incorporate biotechnology and cutting-edge scientific technologies into their teaching curricula. Armed with this knowledge, teachers will be prepared to introduce the concepts of biotechnology to juniors and seniors in high school, thereby sparking their interest in careers in bioscience. This is critical for developing the workforce necessary for this growing Georgia job sector.
The three-day Academy will highlight current DNA and protein analyses. To follow up, Gwinnett Tech and Athens Tech will make scientific equipment and supplies available to the teachers for use in their classrooms.
The Summer Biotechnology Academy is made possible by a $1.9 million grant of the U.S. Department of Labor's Community-Based Job Training Initiative. Bestowed to co-recipients Athens Tech and Gwinnett Tech, the grant helped establish the Georgia Bioscience Technology Institute (GBTI), of which the Summer Biotechnology Academy is a part.
"Gwinnett Tech has been working hard to meet the growing needs for an expertly trained and experienced bioscience workforce in north Georgia," said Robert Powers, Ph.D., bioscience program director, Gwinnett Tech. "The economic development community has expressed repeated concerns for the needs of bioscience companies, both established and emerging, to find sufficient technical workers. This has been a concern that has prevented several potential employers from relocating to our area."
"The $1.9 million federal grant we recently received in conjunction with Athens Tech now enables us to be proactive in developing a bioscience workforce pipeline in our state," Powers said. "It is our goal that articulation between the high schools and technical colleges will produce a sustainable technical workforce for bioscience. This, coupled with the excellent research workforce in our research universities and bioscience companies, will help Georgia strengthen its position nationally as a center of bioscience excellence."
Professionals in the field of bioscience work with doctors, patients and pharmaceutical companies, to administer treatments, monitor patient responses, identify adverse reactions, collect and deliver clinical data to the research agency and protect patient safety and rights.
To register or to get more information about the 2007 Summer Bioscience Academy at Gwinnett Tech, contact Dr. Robert E. Powers, program director for bioscience, at rpowers@gwinnetttech.edu or 678-226-6372.
To learn more about Gwinnett Tech, call 770-962-7580 or visit www.GwinnettTech.edu.
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