RESEARCH
60
Trends In Education
first car turns out to be a BMW,” he says.
The new center gives students hands-on experience in
cutting edge techniques with the latest equipment so that
they can prepare for well-paying jobs. With the growth in the
number of research companies on the Treasure Coast in the
last 10 years, the demand for a work force skilled in laboratory
work is growing both here and in other areas of Florida
and the nation.
Carroll, 31, says that if he finds work at a new lab with new
equipment he’ll have little trouble switching from school to
his new job. “We’re learning on the best of the best equipment,”
he says. On the other hand, if he were to find work at
an older lab it might be like switching back to an older model
car, he says.
Harvey Arnold, provost of the St. Lucie West campus and
a former economics teacher, is as awed by the technology as
any student. He talks of the ways the building itself is part of
the education process and the value of all of it to the community
at large. “It’s about exciting students — to get them
excited about learning math, science, engineering, biotech
research,” he says.
“This building is ‘Wow!’ from top to bottom,” he says. “It
makes you really proud to be a part of IRSC.”
The engineering and ecology labs on the first floor prove
his point. Sitting in the engineering lab is a wave tank used
by budding engineers to study fluid mechanics. It’s especially
relevant in an area where storm surges are a concern. Before
the city of Fort Pierce’s new waterfront protection plan was
approved, engineers took their plans to Canada to use a large
wave tank to test the concept of man-made islands as wave
buffers. Film studios use wave tanks for sea scenes.
The engineering lab has no ceiling — the tiles were not
put in because instructors want students to be able to see the
color-coded gas and water pipes running overhead, Lunceford
says.
VISUAL CUES
In the south window of the ecology lab, a yellow and silver
ORCA “Kilroy” water monitor hangs with labeled parts so
students can understand how it was constructed and what it
does. Kilroys, named for an ubiquitous World War II character
and developed by the Ocean Research and Conservation
Association based in Fort Pierce, are in use right now in the
Indian River Lagoon to keep tabs on water quality. Students
will use a computer to see what data the Kilroys in the mouth
of the St. Lucie Inlet and in the Indian River Lagoon are sending
back. It’s almost as good as being at ORCA themselves.
The second floor is home to labs for chemistry, anatomy
and physiology, the molecular and microbiology lab, the
botany and biology lab, the cell physiology and genetics lab,
and the lab for senior student projects, which houses the
ION Torrent genome sequencer.
With the opening of the William and Helen Thomas
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Center —
STEM center for short — in January the college added to
its cutting-edge buildings, focusing on specific career paths
in the life sciences, alternative energy, new manufacturing,
engineering, technology, and biomedical research. This is the
first one for the St. Lucie West campus; the others are on the
main campus in Fort Pierce. The new building is named after
the late William and Helen Thomas of Stuart for their longstanding
support of IRSC and education.
“We are the only branch campus to have a building that ties
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