Grants Allow Arkansas University to Enhance Education Programs

Arkansas State University recently received two subsidies. While the first grant will be used for the BEST program on robotics awarded by the Kays Foundation, the other has been given for the university to procure a robotic mannequin for the Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences Department.

The university will receive $3,000 to conduct a teacher workshop for the BEST robotics program. According to Dr. Edward Hammerand, chairman of the department of computer science, the workshop will train teachers how to teach students. Teachers from across the state of Arkansas are eligible to attend the program that offers them opportunities to learn how to create robots. Since it is the student body that works on robotics, the workshop will actually educate the teachers on what the students are attempting to do. This will gear them to answer student queries during the course of the program.

The university will use the second subsidy to procure a Radiologic Positioning Mannequin for MRI deployment. According to Ray Winters, chairperson of the Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences division at the university, this development will positively impact education. The robots or mannequins simulate human tissues and bones. The mannequin will be placed in the X-ray lab.