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This month, Annette Parker began her duties as the new president of South Central College, a Minnesota State Community and Technical College (MnSCU) with campuses in Mankato and Faribault. The college emphasizes globalization and has partnerships with regional businesses and industries to offer students internships and employment.
As principal investigator and executive director of the Automotive Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative (AMTEC) from 2007 until May, Parker brought competing automakers together with the United Autoworkers in collaborative relationships with community colleges in 12 states for the center that is part of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program. AMTEC and its partners have developed a modularized, hybrid online lecture and in-person lab curriculum designed to teach both students and incumbent workers the technical skills and critical-thinking skills required to succeed as a maintenance technician in advanced manufacturing.
The AMTEC partnership and the products it has developed have placed the AMTEC partner colleges at the forefront of mechatronics education.