UNH Manchester Steps Up

Having just taken the helm at UNH Manchester in July, Dean and Director Ali Rafieymehr has already created a buzz in NH's high-tech community about the innovative programming to increase the number of students entering STEM programs-specifically computer science.

I was shocked coming to this state that the number of people being graduated to CS [computer science] is so few, Rafieymehr says. We need to do more. It requires faculty and lab space.

Rafieymehr is leading the effort to establish the Emerging Technology Center in the former Pandora mill building in Manchester. The 1,800-square-foot center, with a planned launch this month, will have 20 workspaces with iMacs. The idea is for companies to hire students to complete IT and other projects, with clients recruited by the center director.

Rafieymehr projects the Emerging Technology Center will be profitable and self-sustaining within four years. I need $200,000 to $300,000 to start up, he says. Dyn in Manchester has committed $125,000 over three years to the center and Rafieymehr has personally donated $5,000 annually for five years to show the community this is what I believe will help. Most of the money will come from the university.

Other projects include:

• Collaborating with the abi Innovation Hub, a high-tech incubator and innovation center in Manchester, to establish a micro-incubator in the Center with a couple of workstations set aside for new ventures by university students.
• Hosting a forum last November on the need to graduate more STEM students that included a panel of educators and business leaders and drew more than 80 college and university leaders statewide.
• Developing a new computer science major called Computer Science and Global Innovation, with one track focused on entrepreneurship for students looking to start their own businesses. Rafieymehr previously served as dean of the Division of Information Technology and Sciences at Champlain College in Vermont, where he started a similar program.

To attract more students to the STEM fields, Rafieymehr says it is important to focus on Kindergarten through college. UNH Manchester will launch a pilot program in the spring for high school students that will offer four college courses for high school credit: Introduction to Business, Introduction to Computer Programming, Introduction to Web Design and Intro to Robotics for FIRST.

To reach the younger set, Rafieymehr taught a six-week course in animation to 18 middle school students from four area schools in the fall to teach basic programming concepts. Rafieymehr is also involved in the KITS program-Kids in Technology and Science, which teaches middle school students to build computers, which are then donated to the students' schools. He is working on another big project aimed at K-12 students with Dean Kamen and other business people, but can't reveal yet what it is. Stay tuned.