MCC Named One of 12 Finalists for National STEM Competition

Middlesex Community College is one of 12 finalist teams that will advance to the next phase of the Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC), which is sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Science Foundation!

The CCIC is a national competition where community college student teams, working with a faculty or administrator team mentor, use science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to innovate solutions to real-world problems. Finalists attend an Innovation Boot Camp to share their ideas with experts and practitioners in the field and compete for cash prizes.

The Middlesex team consists of the following students and faculty: Edwin Eisemberg, who is from Tyngsboro and lives in Nashua, Thomas Rua, of Lawrence, and Cristopher Algarra, MCC’s Chair of Engineering.

Working together, the team was able to develop an innovative solution for helping community college students in Massachusetts find STEM-related opportunities. Their project focuses on maintaining a mobile app that matches students with their academic goals and interests to enhance their career paths.

“This experience has helped build my problem-solving skills and experience working on a team,” Eisemberg said. “Both Thomas and Professor Algarra are extremely smart people to work with. Overall, it was very enjoyable and rewarding, both developing the idea and working on the team.”

The app makes it easier for MCC STEM students in particular to access scholarship, grant and job opportunities that they may not know exist otherwise, according to Algarra. The project took between 10 and 12 hours to create, including a written and video portion.

“It’s been a fantastic experience to share ideas and collaborate toward a meaningful goal with Professor Algarra and Ed,” Rua said. “It will serve as a perfect opportunity to nourish ourselves with relevant knowledge and experience to further develop and polish our project.”

Algarra is an advocate and mentor for MCC students participating in competitions such as CCIC. He continues to be impressed by Middlesex students and their achievements in competitions across the country.

“Every time I get myself into these competitions, the students surprise me even more,” Algarra said. “We have so much talent in our community and competitions are a great way to expose them.”

Now, MCC will move on to the Innovation Boot Camp in June. This Boot Camp will give the team the opportunity to be coached in building communication and entrepreneurial skills relevant to supporting innovation in both the private and public sectors. The sessions will include information applicable to commercializing ideas, using technology for social applications, communicating with stakeholders, refining a pitch, and more.

Visit www.aaccinnovationchallenge.com to learn more. Stay up-to-date on MCC’s team’s progress by following #CCIChallenge2022 and @middlesex_cc.