The Dassault Systèmes U.S. Foundation Expands Grant to Base 11 Autonomous Systems Engineering Academy

Base 11 and the Dassault Systèmes (Paris:DSY) U.S. Foundation have announced the expansion of the workforce development initiative aimed at training the next generation of engineers with the skills to succeed in the aerospace, technology, transportation and mobility industries.

The nonprofit Base 11 will introduce the Autonomous Systems Engineering Academy (ASEA) as a full semester course comprised of 200 hours of lecture, lab and homework in the Academic Year 2018/19 at Skyline College in Northern California; Compton College and Cerritos College in Southern California; and South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona.

"Thanks to our partners at the Dassault Systemes U.S. Foundation, community college students from three critical regions of the country will have access to hands-on, project-based learning experiences designed to develop both the mindset and the skills most in demand by industry,” said Landon Taylor, CEO of Base 11. "We’re bringing industry together in partnership with academia and philanthropy to develop a highly skilled, diverse workforce prepared for the jobs of the 21st Century.”

This pre-engineering, project-based learning program is geared towards high-potential, low-resource community college students. The targeted outcome of the program is an industry-sponsored drone design competition among teams of students from each college, which challenges the teams to learn and demonstrate the mindset, competencies, and teamwork that will make them highly attractive as both a prospective four year engineering school transfer student and/or a prospective new hire with employers of their choice.

"The Dassault Systemes U.S. Foundation is very pleased to support Base 11 as it expands into the classroom and gives more students the opportunity to participate in hands-on STEM learning initiatives,” said Al Bunshaft, President, the Dassault Systèmes U.S. Foundation.

The Autonomous Systems Engineering Academy began as highly successful freshman course at the Samueli School of Engineering at University of California, Irvine. Base 11 then collaborated with UCI to adapt the course into an intensive summer program for community college students, and later into a high school curriculum that was piloted in Philadelphia. The semester-long college course ASEA was successfully piloted as a summer course at UCI in 2017 and introduced at Skyline College as an experimental course in Spring 2018. Base 11 has plans to implement the course at six additional community colleges in California and Washington in 2019.

About Base 11

Base 11 is a nonprofit workforce development accelerator focused on solving the STEM talent pipeline crisis being fueled by the underrepresentation of women and minorities. Base 11 facilitates partnerships with industry, academia and philanthropy which deliver to employers a pre-recruitment pipeline of well-trained, highly skilled STEM talent. By establishing Innovation Centers integrated with hands-on project based learning and STEM entrepreneurship training, Base 11 and its partners set students on direct pathways to four-year STEM degrees, well paid STEM jobs, and the opportunity to launch their own STEM related business.
For more information, please visit www.Base11.com. Base 11 is a DBA of the Center for Innovations in Education, a nonprofit 501(c) 3 – IRS exemption EIN# 26-4365936.

About La Fondation Dassault Systèmes

La Fondation Dassault SysteÌmes provides grants, training and expertise about 3D virtual universe technologies to help schools, universities, research centers, museums and associations in Europe, the U.S. and India to push the limits of knowledge. Its mission is to inspire young people with a passion for engineering, science and digital technology to create a better and more collaborative society. As part of this mission, it actively contributes to inventing new ways of sharing know-how and transforming learning practices that make it possible to detect new talents and help them achieve their dreams. For more information: lafondation3ds.org

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