Wake Technical Community College of Raleigh, North Carolina, is establishing a curriculum to provide education and training to area adults and non-traditional students (minority adults, women in transition and re-entry, and employed or unemployed adults seeking retraining) who wish to learn the techniques and applications of scientific visualization computer graphics. This program, designed by the originator and several of the teachers of the highly successful Parkland College of Illinois program, blends mathematics, physical and computer sciences with art and humanities in a unique and powerful new way. It is necessary to revise and upgrade the first program's structure and curriculum to take into account the greater and more diverse local employment needs of the four area universities (UNC, NC State, Duke, and NC Central) and the major high technology firms in the Research Triangle Park area counties. A recent feasibility study in this tri-county area found over 225 potential positions that employers would create if graduates of such a associate degree program were available to hire. By all accounts, this is a conservative estimate of the growing demand in this field. In designing the new curriculum, consideration is being given to area demographics, the availability of local and non-local expertise, recent updates in available graphic software and hardware technology, and the fact that no formal undergraduate training now exists in North Carolina for scientific computer visualization graphics. This is a new field where, in most states, the demand for trained people far exceeds the number of qualified candidates. Thus, Wake Tech's curriculum development will focus or creating an effective educational model for establishing similar degree programs in other states by fostering col laborative efforts among local academic, industrial, and private sector resources. Funding for this proposal will assist in the establishment of a state-of-the-art computer visualization laboratory crucial to the success of this program.
