Computer Assisted Design Students Design Energy- Efficient Homes
LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Professors Travel to Middle East to Enhance Course Offerings
Computer Assisted Design Students Design Energy- Efficient Homes
Honors student Draven Espinal , who is pursuing a career in architecture , displays his final CAD project .
Faculty members Catherine Roche , Dr . Shamika Mitchell and Patricia Szobonya participate in the COIL Academy at the American University of Cairo in Egypt .
RCC students now share classrooms – virtually – with students at universities in Egypt , Lebanon , and Morocco , thanks to the efforts of three faculty members who have created courses through SUNY ’ s Center for COIL – Collaborative Online International Learning .
RCC is one of 28 SUNY campuses involved in the initiative . COIL is not a technology , but rather a teaching tool that allows students to learn about one another ’ s culture through shared online resources . Teachers from two cultures work together to develop a shared syllabus and team-teach the courses .
SUNY ’ s Center for COIL received a Stevens Initiative grant to increase academic collaboration between students in the Middle East / North Africa ( MENA ) region and US institutions .
Three of the 11 accepted proposals were submitted by RCC faculty members Shamika Mitchell , PhD , Assistant Professor of English ; Catherine Roche , Professor of Business ; and Patricia Szobonya , Esq ., Chair of Paralegal Studies and Assistant Professor of Paralegal Studies / Criminal Justice .
These faculty members , along with those from eight other SUNY institutions and from the participating MENA institutions , took part in a COIL Academy workshop at the American University of Cairo ( October 30-November 2 ). After the workshop , each faculty member spent time at her partner faculty member ’ s institution : Mohamed I University in Oujda , Morocco ; Al-Kafaat University in Beirut , Lebanon ; and American University in Cairo .
Students of Computer Assisted Design ( CAD ) presented their final design projects to a professional panel for critiquing at a special event organized by their instructor , Khader Humied . Their final project of the semester was to design a state-of-the-art energy-efficient home . They built digital 3D models using SketchUp software and presented their ( to-scale ) cardboard models while defending their design to the panel of professionals .
Learning CAD can be a highly useful skill , with a broad range of applications in many fields besides the obvious paths in design and manufacturing . RCC offers a CAD certificate with classes conveniently scheduled to allow for work / family time commitments . For information , contact khumied @ sunyrockland . edu or 845-574-4249 .
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