Ocean County College Awarded Grant for New Artificial Intelligence Lab
Practicing Self-Care Event at Cattus Island Park
July 14, 2022
Free Things to Do at Ocean County Parks this Summer
July 15, 2022Ocean County College Awarded Grant for New Artificial Intelligence Lab
40K Grant for AI Lab
The American Association of Community Colleges, Dell Technologies, and Intel gave Ocean County College a $40,000 grant as part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Incubator Network Initiativeaccording to a press release from Ocean County College. The money will be used to construct an AI incubator that will give people more access to AI computing power, resources, and tools in order to develop the skills required for jobs in the future.
AACC, Dell Technologies, and Intel developed criteria and used them to choose 15 institutions to get the prize. Only one college from New Jersey was chosen, and that was Ocean County College.
Dr. Jon H. Larson, president of Ocean County College, stated that AI incubators could be a way to address the growing talent shortage in the area labor market as the need for trained AI professionals in New Jersey keeps growing. He also stated, that they are pleased to work with AACC, Dell Technologies and Intel, and are extremely grateful to be the recipient of this grant award. The grant will provide an exceptional opportunity for Ocean County College to develop an AI laboratory that supports and enhances their AI degree and certificate programs, both on campus and in a HyFlex learning environment. It will also allow the College to expand their partnerships with industry leaders and leverage their expertise to provide exciting new opportunities for students.As part of Intel's growth of its AI for Workforce Program, which delivers AI content to community colleges in order to equip present and future workers with essential AI skills, Ocean County College teamed with the tech corporation last year. AACC, Dell Technologies, and Intel jointly pledged in January 2022 to expand the AI for Workforce program to 50 states by 2023.
“AI has become an increasingly important focus for community colleges as providers of workforce education for multiple industries,” said Walter G. Bumphus, Ph.D., President and CEO, AACC. “Working together with peers and across sectors will enhance the ability of our colleges to advance and scale this curriculum across the nation to ensure that students earn the skills needed to fill these jobs and begin meaningful careers.” Adrienne Garber, Senior Strategist, Higher Education at Dell Technologies, congratulated Ocean County College and said she is looking forward to OCC’s contributions to the AI Incubator Network. “Dell Technologies is committed to transforming 1 billion lives by 2030. By providing learning content for in-demand technology skills and creating artificial intelligence labs for teaching and learning at community and technical colleges across the U.S., we are moving closer to achieving that goal,” said Garber. “With collaborators like Ocean County College, we are creating opportunities for underrepresented populations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and the like to enter careers and fill job openings in much-needed technology fields.” To learn more about Artificial Intelligence programs at Ocean County College, visit go.ocean.edu/AI.
