Tag: UTSA

NVC Grad Among Elite Group of Barry Goldwater Scholars

Posted on by NVC Voice

Congratulations to former Northwest Vista College graduate Adam Hooker for being in an elite class to be named a Barry Goldwater Scholar.

According to a story in UTSA Today: Adam is one of only four UTSA students out of 409 national recipients to receive the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, which is the most prestigious national scholarship awarded to undergraduate students engaging in research in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. Many of the Scholars, including Adam, have published their research in leading professional journals and have presented their work at professional society conferences.

UTSA Today noted Hooker is the first electrical engineering student to win the Goldwater Scholar award at UTSA. He is also the first transfer student from UTSA to win the award. Last year, the Goldwater Foundation increased accessibility for the scholarship, allowing universities to nominate a fifth student, as long as they transferred from a two-year or four-year institution.

While at NVC, he earned two associate degrees. In 2014, he received an Associate of Art (Business Administration and Management), and in 2018 he earned an Associate of Science (Pre-Engineering). Adam said he hopes his achievements will motivate others at NVC that there are many opportunities open to them.

“Through the elite quality of instruction I received from all of my professors at Northwest Vista College, I have the tools to succeed in my field. As I am finishing my undergraduate studies and am beginning the transition into the workforce and my graduate program, I am given reassurance by the skills I developed during my early coursework,” Adam said. “I am incredibly thankful for all the resources that were made available to me during my time at Alamo Colleges and in particular by the Math department of Northwest Vista.”

At NVC, Adam participated in Alamo College’s CIMA-LSAMP (for STEM students) program and has since worked as an electrical engineering intern with Southwest Research Institute and Allosense. Recently, he was hired by NASA – Armstrong Flight Research Center for a 2021 summer internship.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The Scholarship Program honoring Senator Barry Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in the fields of the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. The Goldwater Scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

 

STEM Careers Pandemic Proof

Posted on by NVC Voice

STEM workers are in demand! Engineering and STEM-related jobs will take precedence in the employment industry through 2029 according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — professions are expected to increase 8% between 2019 and 2029, compared to just 3.4% for all other careers. Even more impressive, the median annual STEM wage is $86,980 a year, compared to $38,160 for all non-STEM jobs.

Also WalletHub.com ranked four Texas cities in the top 60 of its list of the Best Cities for STEM jobs. Although San Antonio ranked No. 58 on the list that was released last month, Austin ranked No. 4, and its proximity to San Antonio is beneficial.

This is good news for engineering students in Northwest Vista College’s new partnership with UTSA called TATE which stands for Transfer Academy for Tomorrow’s Engineers program. It allows NVC students to co-enroll at both institutions and take engineering courses taught by UTSA and NVC faculty. Upon completion of the NVC component and an associate’s degree in hand, students will continue courses at UTSA to obtain their bachelor’s degree in any of the six UTSA engineering degree programs, which includes Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Civil Engineering. UTSA also has a partnership with Lone Star College, a community college in Houston.

Students interested in the TATE program are welcome to attend a virtual meeting on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 3:30 pm. To sign up and get Zoom details, go here.

What are some of the benefits of TATE? First, students will be able shave off about $8,800 from their tuition and fees by attending a community college first.

Second, students in this program will be the envy of their peers at summer internships. Many of the summer jobs are from companies that pay about $18 an hour – more than doubled the current minimum wage in Texas. Just in the Lonestar State, there are nearly 100 companies that offer summer internships and many are in the San Antonio area, such as U.S. Air Force, Valero Energy, H-E-B, Intel, CPS, USAA, IBM, Accenture, and Proctor & Gamble. After graduation, UTSA says the starting salary for engineers averages about $60,797.

Third, this joint program opens the doors for many students who don’t have the resources to purse an engineering degree. NVC students who are on financial aid can participate in the AlamoPromise program, that along with other financial resources, can end up making college free.

Finally, the partnership allows students to strengthen their math skills to get calculus ready for their final two years at UTSA. With NVC’s strong math department and tutoring program, it can transform students who started in lower-level math development courses and get them calculus ready in their first two years at NVC.

To learn more about the program and its requirements, which includes being calculus ready, visit the NVC website at https://www.alamo.edu/nvc/academics/tate/