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Institute for Advanced Learning and Research

Driving Economic Transformation

IALR Seeking 10 AmeriCorps Members to Mentor Students in STEM, Reading

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IALR Seeking 10 AmeriCorps Members to Mentor Students in STEM, Reading

IALR Seeking 10 AmeriCorps Members to Mentor Students in STEM, Reading

Opportunities include stipend, educational award, professional development

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) is seeking to fill 10 remaining member slots for its Dan River Year AmeriCorps program, which fosters a year of community service consisting of mentoring students in STEM-related areas and coaching literacy skills. Service sites include two positions at Danville Public Schools, three at the Danville Science Center, two at Gretna Middle School, two at Halifax Middle School and one at Martinsville Middle School.

“Our AmeriCorps program is a unique opportunity for individuals looking to enhance their resume, build relationships and add new skills while giving back to the community,” said Dr. Julie Brown, Director of Advanced Learning at IALR. “Not only do service members enjoy helping students, but they also receive professional development, a stipend and an educational award.”

Supported by the federal Corporation for National and Community Service, IALR and the Danville Regional Foundation, the regional Dan River Year AmeriCorps program is designed to build the area’s capacity for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by addressing literacy challenges. The available STEM/Literacy Tutor and Coach positions work with students to enhance their STEM and literacy skills, as well as to help with related service projects. For their service, AmeriCorps members receive a stipend as well as a Segal Education Award to pay for college or to repay student loans.

Twenty positions were recently filled across the Southern Virginia footprint spanning Pittsylvania County, Halifax County and the cities of Danville and Martinsville. There are 10 open slots. To view the list of current openings and to apply for member positions, candidates should visit bit.ly/DRYpositions. For more information, those interested may contact Dana Silicki at Dana.Silicki@ialr.org or (434) 766-6729.

AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through AmeriCorps and Senior Corps, and leads the nation’s volunteering and service efforts. The Virginia Department of Social Services, through the Office on Volunteerism and Community Services, oversees the Dan River Year program and provides support. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.

Dan River Year AmeriCorps member Trina Holiness-Morris writes thoughtful notes to be inserted in stimulus care packages for seniors in residential care to help stimulate their brain activity and provide them cheer during a time of quarantine. She and other AmeriCorps members filled the packages with playing cards or a game, a stamped greeting card to send to a relative or friend, a large-pieced puzzle, an adult coloring book with colored pencils, a marigold plant kit, a large-print word search or Sudoku, and a canvas with paint and a brush.

IALR Awarded $1.78 Million Department of Defense Contract for New, Innovative Skilled Worker Training Program for Defense Industrial Base

IALR Awarded $1.78 Million Department of Defense Contract for New, Innovative Skilled Worker Training Program for Defense Industrial Base

The U.S. Army Contracting Command-Rock Island (ACC-RI) has awarded a $1.78 million contract to the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) and Danville Community College (DCC) for a pilot project to develop the prototype training program, Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM). The base year of the contract includes instructional staff and curriculum development to address workforce gaps for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) companies.

“Thanks to this transformative opportunity from the DoD, the ATDM program will allow us to fill critical workforce gaps while building the capacity of our nation’s Defense Industrial Base,” said Mark Gignac, Executive Director for IALR, the fiscal agent and ATDM program lead. “We are fortunate to be joined by exemplary partners—DCC, a leader in workforce development programs; Phillips Corporation, a champion of next-generation manufacturing solutions; and The SPECTRUM Group, a consulting firm experienced in the defense industry. I look forward to seeing the program grow under the leadership of IALR’s Troy Simpson, and I thank Sen. Mark Warner and other legislators for supporting these efforts.”

“Danville Community College’s excellence and experience in technical training aligned to industry needs makes our institution the perfect partner for the ATDM pilot program,” said Dr. Jacqueline Gill Powell, president of Danville Community College. “This program will provide another unique opportunity for our students while training needed workforce for the defense industry. By leveraging our existing advanced manufacturing infrastructure and industry expert knowledge, we are positioned to support the ATDM program now and into the future.”

The initial ATDM pilot will focus on the naval shipbuilding sector and will train skilled workers in the DIB skill gaps of CNC machining, welding, metrology/quality assurance and additive manufacturing. A fast-track, intensive and targeted program, ATDM offers universal application across the DIB and the inherent flexibility to be customized for specific manufacturing sectors. It also addresses one of the top workforce development priorities of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program – the need to train skilled workers at scale and velocity to address skill gaps and manpower shortages in the DIB. The ATDM contract was issued under the CORNERSTONE OTA, an integrated contract vehicle that supports the DoD’s IBAS program.

ATDM will support the recently launched IBAS National Imperative in Industrial Skills (NIIS) for the creation of an industrial skills workforce development ecosystem. NIIS aims to close existing industrial workforce skill gaps and improve America’s capacity to recruit, train and deliver sufficient numbers of workers with industrial skills to meet defense supply chain requirements. A major objective of the pilot project will be to evaluate ATDM’s contributions to NIIS as a model training platform in a national network of regionally-based training centers serving the various industrial sectors of the DIB.

“Congratulations to the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research and Danville Community College consortium for securing a $1.78 million award from the Department of Defense (DoD) for their workforce training pilot program, as part of DoD’s National Imperative for Industrial Skills (NIIS) Initiative, which aims to scale up workforce training for our nation’s defense industrial base. The Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing pilot program ramps up key skills such as welding, additive manufacturing and metrology, and serves as a model for our nation,” said U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA). “Given significant gaps that exist in our nation’s defense industrial base, we must pursue innovative models of workforce training such as this one in order to meet our essential national security needs. I’m proud to have been part of today’s announcement, and commend all of the hard work that has gone into developing this program. I look forward to seeing the impact of this training in developing indispensable talent for naval shipbuilding. I’m also optimistic about the jobs that this pilot program will create during this difficult time, and the effect that those jobs will have on the regional economy.”

IALR and DCC have partnered with Phillips Corporation, one of the nation’s largest suppliers of state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, and The SPECTRUM Group, a leading defense consulting firm. The public-private consortium consulted with the defense industry to develop the ATDM program.

Alan Phillips, President/CEO of Phillips Corporation states, “We are proud to be joining IALR, Danville Community College and The Spectrum Group to team on implementing ATDM in the important mission to bridge the skills gap in the USA’s Defense Industrial Base. We believe IALR has the ideal combination of strong leadership, excellent infrastructure, resourceful strategic partners and a highly innovative training formula that will enable success in executing the objectives of ATDM. We look forward to contributing our advanced manufacturing industry knowledge in the areas of subtractive and additive metalworking technologies as we partner with IALR to offer compelling and deployable training programs.”

“ATDM will take the extraordinary manufacturing and workforce development infrastructure that exists in the Danville region to the national level with the potential to make a significant contribution to our nation’s security. SPECTRUM is delighted to be on the Danville team,” said Charlie Dale, Partner of The SPECTRUM Group.

Photos Courtesy of DCC and the City of Danville

Danville Community College (DCC) students train on the latest precision machining technology as part of Danville-Pittsylvania County’s workforce development model, which has been lauded by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and others as a benchmark program. DCC will work with the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, program lead of a newly awarded contract from the Department of Defense, to develop an innovative Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program and address Defense Industrial Base skill gaps in CNC machining and other areas.

 

 

AET Students Participate in New NOW Program

AET Students Participate in New NOW Program

IALR and the Academy for Engineering and Technology (AET) held the first ever virtual Next generation Of Work (NOW) program in April. Modeled after the District C program in North Carolina, NOW pairs student teams with area companies who pose a problem for the students to solve. Twenty-five local AET juniors participated, and three local companies, including Dewberry, Kyocera and Tyton BioSciences, served as the business partners.

“It’s a really unique way to provide students with a real life, work-based learning experience to solve complex problems in diverse teams,” said Jessie Vernon, IALR Program Coordinator. In addition to student benefits, the program also assists local businesses. It is a minimal time investment of up to five hours, and they receive viable solutions to their problem. The N.C. District C program reports that 93 percent of their business partners have implemented or plan to implement at least part of the solutions the students provided.

Students were first coached on the mindsets and tools needed to work collaboratively to solve their business problem. Students then met with their business partner to learn about their problem. From there, they had roughly four weeks to research, brainstorm and develop their plan, and received feedback from their business partner at the halfway point. Vernon, John Hatchett, AET Coordinator, and Dana Silicki, IALR Program Coordinator, who each completed 60+ hours of training with District C, served as team coaches and provided more frequent support to students. The final event consisted of a 10-minute presentation to the business partner highlighting their solution to the problem, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. Business partners provided real feedback to the students, and the students were also graded on their participation.

Students are taught four principal mindsets: Analytical, Design, Collective and Self-Aware. They are also taught how to use 12 different tools within these mindsets. “This is a very student-driven process,” Vernon said. “After being coached at the program launch on the four mindsets and most of the tools, the students set their own agendas and ideate on their own.”

IALR plans to run various implementations of the program moving forward. This is the first District C-modeled, partner program to be run outside of North Carolina.

“The pleasure and honor of this project was all mine. It is inspiring to see young people critically think like that,” said Jason Wells of Kyocera. “I found the time invested very worthwhile.”

Squad 5, including Bailey Calhoun, Emma Littlefield and DaTaevion Robertson, present their business problem solution to Tyton BioSciences.

 

Squad 8 students Elliot Jones, Zakhyia Stamps, Joe Tramontano and Jaten Yates pitch their solutions to Dewberry.

LiveGrow Bio and IALR’s Plant Endophyte Research Center Partner on Microbial Biological Solutions for Growers and Agribusiness

LiveGrow Bio and IALR’s Plant Endophyte Research Center Partner on Microbial Biological Solutions for Growers and Agribusiness

LiveGrow Bio’s manufacturing, formulation, and delivery system, IALR’s endophytes may present natural alternative to chemical treatments

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) and LiveGrow Bio are pleased to announce a partnership to develop microbial biostimulant and biocontrol solutions for growers and the agriculture industry. Pending successful testing, the potential new products could enter commercial production on an accelerated timeline, offering growers natural, healthy alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

“The agricultural biologicals market is growing rapidly as farmers are seeking synthetic, chemical-free solutions,” said Mark Gignac, Executive Director of IALR. “This collaboration represents the next step in taking our endophytes to market. Our applied research experience and expertise in endophytes will be combined with LiveGrow Bio’s patented formulation and delivery system in a mutually beneficial partnership that will ultimately benefit farmers across the region and beyond.”

Dr. Chuansheng Mei, Chief Scientist of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), works with endophytes, or beneficial plant bacteria, which serve as biostimulants by naturally stimulating plant growth and health and contributing to natural pest control.

“Our partnership with IALR is an important piece of our product development pipeline over the next two years. By leveraging their extensive work with endophytes, our team can accelerate the identification of the most effective microbes for various crop segments that we are currently targeting. Combined with our patented microbial manufacturing and formulation technology this will allow us to quickly test commercial formulations of these microbes in the field, significantly reducing our timeline for launch of new products,” said Andrey Pinchuk, President and CEO of LiveGrow Bio.

As part of the agreement, IALR will provide LiveGrow Bio some of IALR’s most promising plant endophytes, or beneficial bacteria that were once living inside plants. These extracted microorganisms are from the library of more than 2,000 endophytes collected, characterized and researched by IALR’s Plant Endophyte Research Center, the first of its kind in the U.S. The plant endophytes serve as biostimulants by naturally stimulating plant growth and health, reducing the need for chemical fertilizer use and offering sustainable agricultural solutions. They also serve as biocontrol agents by contributing to natural pest control, providing a healthier alternative to chemical pesticides and improving the environment and soil quality. Collectively, biostimulants and biocontrol agents are known as biologicals.

“Establishing high-value and mutually beneficial partnerships such as this represents an important next step in bringing our natural biological solutions to the market,” said Dr. Scott Lowman, Director of Applied Research at IALR.

LiveGrow Bio will provide a unique, low-cost microbial manufacturing and formulation platform designed to maintain and administer the benefits of the endophytes while meeting the needs of the end user. Of particular advantage is the innovative platform’s ability to accommodate hard-to-formulate and -store biologicals based on Gram-negative bacteria. Most commonly, today’s biologicals integrate Gram-positive bacteria and fungi that produce spores, which allows them to be stored and have a shelf life. The often more efficient Gram-negative bacteria do not produce spores, making them poor candidates for the market in spite of their known high efficacy in the field. However, LiveGrow Bio’s platform provides an effective production, formulation, and delivery solution, which allows them to utilize any Gram-negative as a commercial product and expands opportunities for more diverse and highly effective product development options. In addition, LiveGrow™ Platform produces non-dormant products, which allows for a lower application rate while making their response in the field order of magnitude faster and more effective than the dormant spore-based products.

Soybean Field with Drying Plant in Background – Some of IALR’s most promising endophytes will be combined with LiveGrow Bio’s microbial production and formulation platform to develop microbial biostimulant and biocontrol solutions for growers and the agriculture industry. Major crops, including soybeans, will be targeted as well as others, such as strawberries, tobacco and turf grass.

As published authors and international experts on Gram-negative beneficial bacteria, IALR scientists will partner with LiveGrow Bio on the research and development of the microbial biological solutions. The two teams will combine IALR’s most promising endophytic bacteria with LiveGrow Bio’s platform and test the resulting pilot products on both the east and west coasts to ensure efficacy across diverse climates, environments and soil types. Once successful combinations are found, commercialization will be explored, leading to availability to growers.

LiveGrow Bio is a biotechnology company that has developed a platform allowing for cost-effective and field-effective manufacturing and formulation of any microbial organism. This LiveGrow™ Platform enables successful commercialization of a vast array of effective microbial organisms. LiveGrow Bio is focused on leading the next wave of agricultural innovation via highly concentrated metabolically active formulation of biopesticides and biostimulants to overcome growing pest resistance and ineffective, high-cost microbial products that currently exist in the marketplace. For more information, visit livegrowbio.com.