BCT CityLab: Blurring the Lines between High School, College, and Industry

BCT CityLab: Blurring the Lines between High School, College, and Industry

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
Using the Boston Metro area as a real-world classroom, the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) this summer launched a new immersive pre-college program – the BCT CityLab – a first-ever offering at the UMass Mount Ida Campus, for high school juniors and seniors interested in exploring building construction, sustainability, engineering, architecture, and technology-related learning and career pathways. The inaugural program attracted students from five states (MA, NJ, CT, UT, IL) and three countries (Honduras, Switzerland, USA). Each participant learned about college life and earned college credits while engaging in construction site tours, hands-on fabrication projects and skills trainings.  The innovative program was designed to make learning fun, and to build tangible learning pathways to access Boston’s innovation economy. In the Building Physics Module, students learned about heat transfer and thermodynamics in buildings and how construction, control, and maintenance affect the related thermal processes. Then students applied what they learned in a real-world context – the 72-acre Mount Ida campus located in...
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Introducing: BCT’s New Summer “CityLab” Pre-College Program in Newton

Introducing: BCT’s New Summer “CityLab” Pre-College Program in Newton

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
This summer, BCT is offering an exciting opportunity for high-schoolers in the Boston area to learn about buildings, cities, and the many technologies that are used to create and operate them as part of a two-week summer pre-college program. This program, housed at our beautiful Mount Ida campus in Newton, MA can be attended as a commuter, but a residential option is also available. See below for more information. CityLab The BCT (Building & Construction Technology) CityLab is a two-week immersive pre-college program for high school students interested in exploring building construction, sustainability, engineering, architecture, and technology-related career paths. The BCT CityLab course format includes a series of daily hands-on activities including construction site tours, use of emergent technologies (drones, infrared cameras, air quality testing, AR/VR), software (Fusion 360, SketchUp, Minecraft, AutoCAD), and fabrication tools (specialty 3D printers/lasers, hand/power tools, industrial sewing machines, CNC equipment). Students also conduct science lab experiments and participate in service-learning activities. The learning experience culminates with a design-build...
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Creating a Bridge to the Future with BCT and Digital Ready

Creating a Bridge to the Future with BCT and Digital Ready

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
On December 1, 2021 BCT faculty and students hosted Digital Ready (DR), a Boston-based non-profit that provides talented, young Black and Latinx students from Boston Public Schools a no-cost, head-start to a STEM degree from UMass. The DR cohort of 27 students participated in a unique peer-to-peer learning exchange program developed by CSN faculty Dr. Paul J. Wolff III and students in the new communication course required for all BCT majors (Communicating Building Science and Sustainability). The Immersion Event featured live presentations, hands-on demonstrations, building/lab tours and one-on-one time with current BCT students. The event began with ice-breaker activities and was followed by a series of presentations featuring coursework, extra-curricular activities, internships and a Q&A discussion about what it is like to live, learn and work at the UMass Amherst campus. The Immersion Event culminated with lunch at the award-winning UMass Dining Halls for all participants. The Digital Ready Cohort enjoyed live skits, informational giveaways and interactive presentations of student work such...
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The Sustainability Road Less Traveled: BCT’s Applied Learning Pathways Lead to Jobs

The Sustainability Road Less Traveled: BCT’s Applied Learning Pathways Lead to Jobs

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
During the last year, 10 pioneering UMass students took the road less traveled – pursuing the BCT (Building Construction Technology) Applied Learning Pathways, a new option for students to ‘study abroad’ at the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton, Massachusetts. Students worked one-on-one with a faculty sponsor to create a customized, hands-on learning experience based on their interests in sustainability. These one-of-a kind pathways built the students’ confidence and portfolios (i.e. GIS mapping, augmented/virtual experiments, original research, multi-media videos, 3D models) as they collectively pursued more than 30 academic credits toward the completion of their degrees. “As a master’s degree student at UMass, I wanted my learning to be meaningful and to have an impact,” said Abigail Moore, B.S. ’19, M.S, ’21. “The Independent Study project I designed with my professor focused on the idea of ‘Living Buildings;’ structures that generate more than they consume – and I was able to focus on understanding how these buildings can work with...
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Introducing: Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Building Construction

Introducing: Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Building Construction

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
BCT is now offering a graduate certificate in sustainable building construction to professionals seeking an opportunity to pursue in-depth studies in sustainability in building design and construction without needing to complete a full degree program. This certificate’s topics comprise sustainable (green) building systems and materials, energy and conservation, building technologies, and construction management. 16 credits of flexible coursework can be completed through a combination of online and in-person courses*, with in-person courses offered in Amherst, Newton (on our Mount Ida campus) or both. If you are considering applying to the Professional Masters in Sustainable Building Systems program after completing the certificate, all 16 course credits will transfer toward your degree. Benefits Who Should Apply? This certificate is for you if you intend to learn more about any of these topics: Building energy assessment and modeling Design of wood structures, including mass-timber High-performance building design Sustainable building certification systems Building Information Modeling (BIM) Managing sustainable building projects Apply and Enroll Applications are accepted on a rolling basis here but you can always start this...
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