Category Archives: Events

Events

Dunwoody rewards innovation at FIRST Robotics MN state championship

Three high school teams receive $500 and the Dunwoody Unique Engineering & Design Award for their FIRST Robotics competition design solutions

The Greenbush-Middle River, Eden Valley-Watkins, and Frazee-Vergas high school teams formed the winning alliance at this year’s Minnesota State High School League FIRST Robotics championship held May 19, at Mariucci Arena. But thanks to Dunwoody’s Unique Engineering & Design Award, teams that didn’t place still had a chance to win.

For the fourth consecutive year, Dunwoody presented a Unique Engineering & Design Award, which recognizes high school robotics teams that exhibit unique engineering design solutions.

Because each year’s FIRST Robotics competition provides several different challenges and multiple ways to score points, teams have to make tough decisions about how they design their robots. No matter whether those decisions lead to a first place win or not, they provide team members with an opportunity to experiment, problem-solve, and learn.

Winners use unique materials methods

The 2018 Unique Engineering & Design Award winners are:

  • Becker, Team 4607 (Becker, MN)
  • Henry Sibley, Team 3100 (Mendota Heights, MN)
  • Farmington, Team 2987 (Farmington, MN)

Dean of Robotics & Manufacturing E.J. Daigle was this year’s judge.

“The winning teams this year designed and built robots using an array of design and custom-manufacturing parts for their robots,” he said. “Machining, welding, 3D-printing, and hand-laid carbon fiber were all on display. By far my favorite was seeing a Banner photoelectric sensor and reflector applied to a robot wheel to be utilized as an encoder.”

Several Dunwoody Robotics & Manufacturing students also attended the event. They talked about their experiences at Dunwoody, made sure the Dunwoody keychain-dispensing FANUC robot—an event favorite—kept running properly, and showcased the College’s “Snow Devil” robotic snow plow by driving it around the concourse.

Scholarships and seminars for FIRST Robotics participants

Dunwoody hopes to give out the award again next year.

The College is offering $1,000 scholarships to FIRST Robotics grads who enroll at Dunwoody for the fall 2018 semester. For details, download the scholarship application or contact Dunwoody Admissions at admissions@dunwoody.edu or 612-381-3041.

The Robotics & Manufacturing department will hold Saturday seminars this fall to help teams prepare for the 2019 FIRST Robotics competition: “Destination: Deep Space.” Topics covered include, basic electricity, Solidworks design, shop skills, industrial robotics, and more.

For details, contact Dean Daigle at edaigle@dunwoody.edu.

Community Outreach, Events, Summer Camps

Dunwoody to offer five summer camps in 2018

Searching for something to do this summer? Interested in exploring Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) careers and Dunwoody programs? Look no further.

Dunwoody is excited to offer five different summer camp opportunities in 2018:

Youth Career Awareness Program (YCAP) College Prep Summer Camp: June 11-July 21, 2018
For students completing their junior or senior year in Spring 2018.

YCAP Summer Camp is a six-week camp that helps prepare high school juniors and seniors for college.

Campers will:

  • Explore technical degrees and career opportunities at Dunwoody
  • Take college-readiness courses
  • Participate in field trips and visits to job sites

Those who are accepted into a Dunwoody program after the camp will be eligible to receive a scholarship of up to $10,000/year for two years.

Questions? Contact Peggy Quam, Assistant Director of Special Initiatives, at pquam@dunwoody.edu or 612.381.3067.

Register for YCAP College Prep Summer Camp.

Stem Camp: June 18-21, 2018
For students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year of high school in Fall 2018. 

STEM Camp is a four-day camp that allows high schoolers to explore topics in STEM-related fields.

Campers will:

  • Design and build projects
  • Experience 3D printing, electronics, code writing, CAD modeling, and manufacturing
  • Take a tour of Boston Scientific

Questions? Contact Janet Nurnberg, Industrial Engineering Technology Program Manager, at jnurnberg@dunwoodye.edu or 612.381.3351.

Register for Stem Camp.

Power Girls: June 24-29, 2018
For girls entering grades 6-12 in Fall 2018.

Power Girls is a 6-day camp, hosted at Girl Scouts River Valleys’  Camp Lakamaga in partnership with Dunwoody women staff and faculty.

Campers will:

  • Create hands-on projects
  • Practice construction and welding
  • Build a Tiny House

Register for Power Girls.

 Discover Interior Design Camp: June 25-28, 2018
For students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year of high school in Fall 2018.

Held in partnership with RSP Architects, Discover Interior Design is a four-day camp that introduces high schoolers to the world of interior design.

Campers will:

  • Study color, materials, architectural drawing, and digital media
  • Work with established, professional designers
  • Visit local design firms

Questions? Contact Nada Sarraf-Knowles, Interior Design Assistant Professor, at nsarrafknowles@dunwoody.edu or 612.381.3352.

Register for Discover Interior Design Camp.

Arts-N-Crafts, Robots & Computing Camp: July 16-20, 2018
For students entering grades 6-8 in Fall 2018. 

Arts-N-Crafts, Robots & Computing Camp is a five-day camp that allows middle schoolers to explore the basics of computing through arts and crafts projects.

Campers will:

  • Build and program robots
  • Learn about Artbotics
  • Program with Scratch

Questions? Contact Rob Bentz, Dean of Computer Technology, at rbentz@dunwoody.edu or 612.381.8117.

Register for Arts-N-Crafts, Robots & Computing Camp.

Alumni & Friends, Events

Learning about Leadership in Today’s Technology Fields

Mitch DeJong speaking at Dunwoody
March Leadership Lecture featured
Chief Technology Officer from Design Ready Controls

Multi-generational workforce development, embracing conflict and harnessing diverse perspectives to find creative solutions were just a few of the topics Mitch DeJong spoke about at Dunwoody’s March 1 C. Charles Jackson Leadership Lecture.

The Chief Technology Officer at Design Ready Controls, DeJong shared leadership lessons he’s learned from a career that has spanned the automotive, environmental and manufacturing sectors.

“Embracing passion equals embracing conflict,” DeJong said during his lecture, explaining that when you can embrace conflict between two diverse viewpoints, rather than trying to build a middle-ground consensus that doesn’t make either side happy, you can arrive at a better solution.

Mitch DeJong with Dunwoody President Rich Wagner and VP of Institutional Advancement Brian NelsonDeJong has a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Natural Resources Science and Management and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University.

His career and research have focused on multi-perspective design in a variety of fields, including: automotive design, expert systems software architecture, natural resources planning, and most recently, multi-generational workforce development.

Design Ready Controls is a growing manufacturing company headquartered out of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

 

Dunwoody in the News, Events, Student Competitions, Student News

Robotics & Manufacturing students compete, help out teams at Autonomous Snowplow Competition

Dunwoody students receive sportsmanship award for fourth year in a row.

While most don’t necessarily relish the idea of snowstorms and clearing driveways…there are some folks who do. And you’ll likely find them at the annual Autonomous Snowplow Competition.

Dunwoody Robotics & Manufacturing students have competed in the Institute of Navigation (ION’s) Autonomous Snowplow Competition, since its inauguration in 2011. Held during the St. Paul Winter Carnival, the event serves as an opportunity for universities, colleges, and the general public to showcase hand-built machines that can independently clear piles of snow without any manual control.

It’s one of the Robotics & Manufacturing student’s favorite and most successful competitions, and the teams have the record to prove it.

Last year, Dunwoody placed 3rd and 5th in the competition.

And this year, Dunwoody earned its highest place to date when Team Wendigo brought home 2nd place and a $4,000 prize.

Dunwoody’s Snow Devils Team closely followed with 5th place and a $700 prize.

But for Dunwoody students, the annual event is about more than just winning. It’s also about sharing their love and knowledge of technology with the judges and spectators—and even the competition itself.

Snowplow Competition about more than just winning

“All that knowledge and experience doesn’t count for much if you don’t find ways to use it,” Automated Systems & Robotics student and Wendigo Team member Jeremy Berg said.

“This event isn’t just about who can take first place—it’s about seeing different ideas for autonomous thinking in action,” Berg added. “These people are our future coworkers and friends, and we want to be the go-to people to lend a hand or solve any issue.”

That mentality has contributed to the College earning the sportsmanship award in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, and again this year, 2018.

Sportsmanship Award has meaningful history

Created by ION in 2012, the sportsmanship award honors the team that exhibited the best sportspersonship throughout the competition.

The award was renamed the Dr. Nattu Natarajan Golden Smile Award just a few years later after University of Michigan-Dearborn professor and competition leader Dr. Narasimhamurthi (Nattu) Natarajan, who passed away from a lung illness on the Saturday morning of the 2016 competition.

The award and its significance means a great deal to Dunwoody.

“I worked with Professor Natu at the competition those first few years,” Robotics & Manufacturing Dean E.J. Daigle said. “And he loved the Dunwoody students and teamwork.

“Many of these teams are traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles to compete. As a local team, it is easy for us to pack up extra tools and supplies to help teams make repairs to their vehicles.

“We have made it our mission each year to ensure that every team competes.”

And that’s exactly what they did.

The value of teamwork

Daigle shared that one of the reasons Dunwoody received the award this year is because his students were able to help out Case Western’s Sno-Joke robot, which had completely dead batteries on the last day of the competition.

With no safe or easy way to charge it at the event, the team thought they might be out of luck.

But by using personal jumper cables from Dunwoody students’ cars, “We were able to find a way to parallel their batteries with ours and maintain running the battery chargers at full capacity,” Daigle explained. “This allowed us to charge their machines and our machines at the same time.”

Thanks to the students’ quick thinking, the team, which had originally missed their scheduled run time, was able to compete at the end of the day Sunday—even beating out Dunwoody for fourth place.

The students helped another team in a similar scenario back in 2016.

Daigle recalls that at one point during that competition, a school announced they were going to quit due to technical difficulties when another team suggested they, “find Dunwoody–they can fix anything.”

“To me, that is far more valuable than whatever place you come in,” Daigle said. “I couldn’t be any prouder.”

Learn more about Dunwoody Robotics & Manufacturing.

Events, Student News

Radiologic Technology graduates honored at Pinning Ceremony

Eight students recently graduated from Dunwoody’s Radiologic Technology program.
Class of Spring 2017 Rad Tech grads with their instructors

Class of Spring 2017 Rad Tech grads and their instructors

Eight of Dunwoody’s Radiologic Technology students officially graduated on Thursday, July 13, at a Pinning Ceremony where they were honored for the successful completion of the program.

After a day of celebration, the program graduates completed the AART National Exam the following day. All eight students passed the exam.

The College’s Rad Tech graduates earn an Associate of Applied Science degree over two years (four semesters and two summer sessions). During this time, students rotate between 10-15 different clinics and hospitals in the Twin Cities area, including North Memorial Hospital. The variety of clinical sites allows students to work with real patients in every healthcare setting and situation–from level-one trauma centers to geriatric hospitals–before graduating. There are two graduating cohorts per year–one in July and one in December.

 Students graduate with honors

During the Pinning Ceremony, Rad Tech faculty and staff also recognized students with various awards. Congratulations to the following graduates:

Dunwoody Clinical Excellence Award: Brittney Tompkins
This award is given to a student who exemplifies the ideal behavior in a clinical environment. This student works well with students, staff technologists, and other clinical instructors in their clinical setting. The student receiving the Clinical Excellence Award personifies the type of student that Dunwoody and the Radiologic Technology Program would want every student to strive to be in their clinical setting.

Best Patient Care Award: Brandi Hanisch
This award is given to a student who demonstrates superior care to the patients that they work with during their clinical rotations. The student selected for this award ensures that the patient comes first and that all the needs and concerns that a patient may have are taken care of.

 Academic Achievement Award: Justin Larson
This award is given to one graduating student from each of the academic platforms at Dunwoody. The nominees for the award have a high attendance rate and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Other considerations for the award are based on work ethic, extra-curricular participation, the pursuit of excellence, self-awareness, and leadership.

 Best Team Player Award: Shelby Wittibslager
This award s given to a student who exemplifies the meaning of the phrase “team player.” This student takes it upon themselves to seek out work and help out in all areas in the Radiology Department, and also works well with other students, department technologists, and clinical instructors. They are the first person to lend a willing hand when help is needed.

 

Events, Student News

Dunwoody IISE Student Chapter hosts Six Sigma Training

IMG_3670Earlier this month, Dunwoody College of Technology’s Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) Student Chapter hosted a Six Sigma Training, certifying participants in Six Sigma Green Belt, the first credential in a series of certifications focused on lean processes.

The Six Sigma Green Belt certification is widely recognized throughout the industry, and the credential gives students an edge in their job search, signifying that they are well-versed in lean processes and process improvement.

Dunwoody’s IISE Student Chapter President Dustin Szumowski organized the event with the IISE National Chapter, inviting students from North Dakota State University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. The training ran for 8 hours on both Friday and Saturday with a two-part exam on Sunday.

“I thought the event went great! Everyone had fun and learned more about process improvement,” Szumowski said. “I think that it is a great way to get ahead of others competing in the job market.”

Dunwoody’s IISE Student Chapter is open to students enrolled in the Industrial Engineering Technology bachelor’s completion degree program. Learn more at dunwoody.edu.

 

Community Outreach, Events

Dunwoody awards high school robotics teams for design innovation

Three FRC teams each earned $500 for their innovative design solutions in the 2017 MSHSL Robotics Tournament.
Dunwoody Mechanical Engineering Instructor Jonathan Aurand

Dunwoody Mechanical Engineering Instructor Jonathan Aurand

On Saturday, May 20, Dunwoody gave out three Outstanding Engineering & Design Awards at the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Robotics Championship at Mariucci Arena.

Dunwoody Mechanical Engineering Instructor Jonathan Aurand judged each of the state’s top 30 FIRST Robotics teams competing in the tournament and made selections based on unique engineering design solutions to robotic challenges.

FRC Team 2883

FRC Team 2883

The award acknowledges that while winning the tournament is a major achievement, innovation can come from creative thinking, experimentation, failure, and budgetary and/or engineering constraints. Each of the winning teams took home a trophy and a check for $500.

FRC Team 4198

FRC Team 4198

Congratulations to the following high school FIRST Robotics teams for earning the Outstanding Engineering & Design Award:

  • Team 2883 Warroad High School
  • Team 4198 Waconia Senior High School
  • Team 5172 Greenbush-Middle River
FRC Team 5172

FRC Team 5172

Dunwoody has been a friend and sponsor of the Minnesota State High School League’s FIRST Robotics competition for several years. This is the third year that Dunwoody has given out the Outstanding Engineering & Design Awards.

Events, Staff News

Dunwoody faculty and staff recognition awards announced

As the 2016-2017 academic year comes to an end, Dunwoody is honored to recognize the many faculty and staff members who have made a difference to the College, its students, and the broader community by presenting several service awards.

Congratulations to:
  • Staff and Faculty members who completed a degree: Network Engineer Matt Anderson, Associate Director of Career Services Rob Borchardt, Clinical Instructor Amanda Gronsberg, Senior Instructor Mary Kosuth, Instructor Paula Merns, Principal Instructor Ariane Sandford, Admissions Data Lead Becky Sommers, Project Manager Mary Zawadski
  • Staff members who completed the Dunwoody College Leadership Development Program: Marketing Communications Coordinator Amanda Fons, Financial Aid Counselor Charla Hudlow, Admissions Counselor Macy Loja, Assistant Registrar Mao Rebman, and Content Marketing Specialist Allie Swatek
Congratulations to the following recipients of the 2016-2017 Employee Recognition Awards:

Building Community Award winners: Principal Instructor and Education Coordinator Dr. Leo Parvis and Senior Admissions Counselor Meera Weist

 The Building Community Award goes to an individual whose projects or efforts demonstrate and heighten Dunwoody’s commitment to cultural awareness being integrated into the campus and community.

Outstanding Team Award winner: the Financial Communications Team

The Outstanding Team Award is given out annually to a cross-departmental team of employees whose work has had a significant impact on the way Dunwoody serves its constituents.

Outstanding Academic Innovation Award winners: Architecture Instructor Molly Reichert and Tool Crib Administrator Ron Underhill

 The Outstanding Academic Innovation Award is awarded to faculty members who demonstrate a commitment to implementing innovative instructional strategies in the classroom.

Instructor of the Year Award winners: Senior Instructor Mary Kosuth, Instructor Edo Krivdic, Senior Instructor Lonny Lunn, and Adjunct Instructor Pablo Villamil

 Nominations for the Instructor of the Year award come from current Dunwoody students. The award is given out annually to instructors who are committed to the students’ academic success, serve as a professional role model to students and colleagues, aim for academic excellence in curriculum development and aim for academic excellence in instruction.

Distinguished Teacher Award winner: Principal Instructor Jim Strapko

The Distinguished Teacher Award is given to faculty members who have committed a significant portion of their career to the art of teaching and who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to education and lifelong learning.

William and Kate Dunwoody Outstanding Service Award winners: Network Engineer Matt Anderson, Senior Admissions Counselor Elaine Geogleris, and Manager of Advancement Communications Jennifer McNeil

The William and Kate Dunwoody Outstanding Service Award is given to employees who have consistently performed outstanding work for the College.