![Jared M. Ashcroft, Pasadena City College assistant professor of natural sciences, mentored the 2021 CCIC champions.](local/data/caches/images/scaled/img_00029927_300x300.png)
In early 2021 Jared M. Ashcroft opened an email announcing the Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC) to the Advanced Technological Education community. “Oh, that looks really fun,” was his assessment of the linked website’s description of the national competition that the American Association of Community Colleges offers in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
When he told his chemistry students at Pasadena City College about the contest and the opportunity to win cash prizes for innovative STEM solutions to real-world problems, four students formed a team and asked Ashcroft to be their mentor. Mentoring took his time – an hour or two at a time over several months – but “not a dime” from the budget of the Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) he leads. And, Ashcroft said, the experience was well worth the students’ efforts and his time even if the team had not won first prize.
“If I see an opportunity that looks like I can impact students, I want to do it and figure out a way to support it,” he said.
Ashcroft “loves” the way CCIC teaches teamwork and how to market scientific innovations. This year he has shared information about the 2022 CCIC with the micro and nanotechnology community across the country.