Higher-Education Programs Focus on Sustainability
Published Feb 13, 2009
The Rock Creek campus of Portland Community College is an emblem of environmental friendliness.
Alarm about the planet’s depleting resources has spurred governments, businesses and individuals to look for cleaner, more sustainable ways to live and work.
Long considered a frontrunner in the sustainability movement, Portland has a lot to teach others. And much of that learning takes place in the classrooms of the region’s higher education campuses.
“Global climate change is the topic on a lot of people’s minds, especially for those in their early 20s,” says Robert Bass of the Oregon Institute of Technology. “Another big factor is the geopolitical situation. … We’re conducting wars for resources, and our young people recognize that. They know if they can get into the renewable-energy engineering field, they can make an impact.”
Bass says about 80 students in Portland and another 30 at OIT’s Klamath Falls campus are enrolled in the renewable-energy engineering program that opened in fall 2008. Bass directs that program, the first of its kind in the United States.
Not only will these students have a chance to affect the world’s environmental future, they also can anticipate a wealth of job opportunities. A large segment of the country’s engineering workforce is approaching retirement age just as many new jobs in the field are being created, especially in Oregon, where the legislature passed measures in 2007 to encourage sustainable businesses to open or relocate in the state.
Partnership with Solar Company
At Portland Community College, students are preparing for a surge of jobs in solar technology. The photovoltaic program, part of the college’s microelectronics department, was started in late 2007 to train workers for SolarWorld’s new Hillsboro plant. Opened in October 2008, it is North America’s largest solar-cell manufacturing facility. (See story, page 16.) PCC offers an associate’s degree in photovoltaic technology.
“In Oregon, this technology is definitely experiencing an impressive growth,” says Dorina Cornea-Hasegan, chairwoman of the college’s Microelectronics Technology Department. Cornea-Hasegan cites projections that solar-energy generation will be 20 times the current level by 2020.
Power generation isn’t the only way to promote sustainability. Urban planning and civic involvement are other means of doing so, says Wim Wiewel, president of Portland State University. A $25 million grant from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation will help to broaden the university’s position in sustainability research and education, Weiwel says. It requires an equal amount of matching funds.
“We had already selected sustainability as a focal area before we had an inkling of getting this grant,” he adds. “It’s an area we have strength in. It matches what the region is known for, and it’s something that society needs.”
Story by Renee Elder
Photo by Jeff Adkins
Current Weather Conditions In Portland, OR (97201)
Clear, and 56 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
