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Heighton Named Innovator of the YearPublished: 11/4/2011 Professor Dan Heighton has received the 2011 Innovation of the Year Award from the League for Innovation in the Community College for his "Innovative Internships in Cyber-Security" project! The League for Innovation in the Community College (LICC) honors outstanding innovations each year through the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These innovations represent significant achievements at member colleges and the continuing renewal of the spirit of innovation and experimentation upon which the League was founded. Heighton's National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, "Meeting 21st Century Cyber-Security Needs through Advanced Technological Education," allowed Clark State to develop and implement an associate degree program in the high-demand field of cyber-security, including an innovative intern/externship component. Selected students, some who may have never been out of Ohio, are able to work and be mentored by industry professionals in the hotspots of technology innovation, like Silicon Valley and the Pacific Northwest. Students work as a team in these environments, then return to Clark State to share what they have learned with other students. Heighton takes the model even further to use cloud computing and exploding availability of mobile net devices to create real-time team projects involving students and industry professionals, whether in Seattle or Springfield, Ohio. Heighton has been invited to apply for another NSF grant to expand his concept of real-time project teams and to incorporate the model into more technology classes. Heighton will receive this award during the League’s Innovator Spotlight Virtual event and has been asked to submit his project for the 2012 Innovators Conference in Philadelphia in March 2012. This is a great honor and provides Dan the opportunity to share his award winning project with his peers. MEDIA CONTACT: |