Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008 - (Page 62) Providing Opportunities GEORGIA TECH Savannah is not dedicated solely to the academic and research interests in its classrooms and laboratories. It also is interested in stimulating economic growth in Savannah through outreach programs, from helping entrepreneurs get their footing and professionals stay competitive to getting children interested in engineering-related disciplines. The Savannah campus has branches of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center, a science and technology incubator that assists entrepreneurs in launching companies, as well as the Enterprise Innovation Institute, which through science, technology and innovation helps enterprises become more competitive. Savannah’s ATDC now has five member companies. Frost says an area in which Georgia Tech Savannah must focus more closely is creating professional-education opportunities in the region. Roger Purcell, an assistant professor of engineering at Middle Georgia College, was attending a meeting on Georgia Tech Savannah’s campus when he picked up a brochure about the Institute’s advanced-degree programs in civil engineering. A former civil engineer and land surveyor and current president of the Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia, Purcell, CE 74, MS CE 77, was interested in learning more about geographical information systems and global positioning systems. “I had researched other PhD programs in GIS or geomatics with other schools in the Southeast, but the residence requirements and fees seemed formidable,” says Purcell, who, after speaking with some Georgia Tech Savannah professors, decided to pursue a PhD there. Although some coursework required him to take a year’s academic leave from Middle Georgia College to study at his alma mater in Atlanta, Purcell has been able to take some courses on the Savannah campus, commuting from his home in Brunswick. He now is looking into video teleconferencing, which would allow him to take the remainder of his courses from his office at Middle Georgia College. Georgia Tech Savannah also is creating opportunities to inspire the engineers of tomorrow. Its office of Math, Science & Technology UST LIKE ITS MOTHER CAMPUS, J Georgia Tech Savannah also is creating opportunities to inspire the engineers of tomorrow. It offers hands-on workshops that give fourthto 12th-graders a crash course in computer programming through computer animation projects and LEGO robotics activities. Initiatives strives to get youngsters and teenagers excited about math and science. MaST offers hands-on workshops that give fourth- to 12thgraders a crash course in computer programming through computer animation projects, LEGO robotics activities and GPS treasure hunts. “Part of what we’re doing in terms of outreach goes all the way back to really thinking about creating the pipeline,” Frost says. “Those third- and fourth-graders, there will be another 12 years before they show up looking to go to engineering school, but part of our responsibility is to help build that pipeline.” Growing Quickly With Quality HE YELLOW JACKETS’ RETURN TO THE FOOTBALL field in the fall may not bring the same excitement and energy to Georgia Tech Savannah that it does to Georgia Tech, but members of the Savannah campus have organized their own sporting events. A tug-of-war last year pitted faculty against students, and the campus is still buzzing from a softball game last spring in which members of the American Society of Civil Engineers crushed members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Students on the Savannah campus are participating in several organizations and have started their own chapters of ASCE, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. There’s no Olympic-size pool at Georgia Tech Savannah, but for now students can relax over a game of foosball or ping-pong in the student lounge. And the campus is evolving. Some new recreational facilities will open later this year. And if the student body continues to grow, Georgia Tech Savannah could have some dorms in place within the next few years. Frost’s responsibilities call for frequent visits to the Atlanta campus, giving him what he calls a “biweekly ingestion of big-city energy.” “One of the things I just about make sure I do every time I’m in Atlanta is find an excuse to walk around campus a little bit. Just being in an environment where there’s a lot of students, that’s incredibly exciting,” Frost says. “It keeps reminding me of why we need to grow our enrollment and why we need to grow it with quality but quickly. I feel we’re getting there.” GT T 62 Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Fall 2008
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.