November 2, 2020 Melissa Lamar

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Connecticut College of Technology student Dennis Tekyi, who attends Tunxis Community College, received a National Science Foundation (NSF) ATE Student/Alumni Award during the 27th National Advanced Technological Education Principal Investigators Conference 2020, held virtually Oct. 19-23.

Tekyi was one of 30 students from the United States to receive the award, which required an application process and recommendation. As part of the award, he created a poster for a “Tour Bot” project, an automated robot that can travel around a college campus to help students with wayfinding and information. The project was on display at the Student Poster Session for conference attendees to view, and will remain on virtual display for three months.

“I would like to extend congratulations to Dennis for this accomplishment, and hope this recognition encourages him to continue pursuing his passions, seize new opportunities, and keep developing innovative ideas,” said Dr. James Lombella, North-West regional president of the Connecticut Community Colleges.

“I am impressed by his work on this project, and look forward to seeing the contributions Dennis will make to this field in the future,” added Tunxis professor Dr. Karen Wosczyna-Birch, also director of the CT College of Technology and executive director of the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing.

On the heels of the award, Tekyi received a $3,400 renewable scholarship from Tunxis for the 2020-2021 academic year through an NSF S-STEM grant received in partnership with Central CT State University. The computer science major resides in New Britain.

The conference, which is hosted annually by the American Association of Community Colleges with support from the National Science Foundation, typically brings together more than 900 NSF ATE grantees and their project partners to focus on the critical issues related to advanced technological education.

Tunxis Community College is celebrating 50 years of education and service in its communities this year. The college offers more than 70 associate degrees and certificates, including 28 associate degrees with manufacturing, science, engineering and technology emphases. Tunxis is also a recipient of a $2.8 million National Science Foundation grant that established the College of Technology’s Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing, an NSF Center of Excellence, and one of seven National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education Centers in the United States. For more information on programs at Tunxis, visit tunxis.edu/academics.

The CT College of Technology is a consortium of all 12 CT Community Colleges and eight public and private universities that was formed through CT legislation in 1995 to establish seamless pathways in engineering and technology. For more information on the College of Technology, contact Karen Wosczyna-Birch at 860.723.0608, or [email protected].