Central Carolina Community College has hired biofuels instructor Andrew McMahan to develop curriculum for a new biofuels associate degree program. McMahan was previously a biofuels instructor at Guilford Technical College located in Jamestown, N.C.
At its September 2007 meeting, the North Carolina Community College System’s Board of Trustees granted Central Carolina Community College the distinction of becoming the first in the state to offer a biofuels associate degree program. The two-year program, “Alternative Energy Technology: Biofuels,” will start in the fall of 2008. The North Carolina Community College System’s BioNetwork Center has given CCCC a $58,190 grant to develop the program’s curriculum.
Since 2002 the Continuing Education Department at CCCC’s Chatham County Campus in Pittsboro, N.C., has offered a biofuels class, an automotive technology class geared towards the use of biofuels, and a renewable energies class.
The program will train students to work in three areas: using vegetable oils to produce biodiesel; primarily corn-based ethanol production; and the production of biofuels from biomass including grasses, landfill and hog waste. The courses will include biofuels analytics, biofuels waste management and renewable energy technology. As part of the interdisciplinary approach, students will also take courses in chemistry, electrical control systems, welding, bioprocessing practices and small business development.
McMahan said graduates of the program are expected to qualify for numerous positions within the industry including plant technician, plant manager, lab technician, sales manager, process coordinator or business owner.
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“It’s very exciting,” he said. “When it’s up and running, I hope to feel that we’ve done a service for North Carolina, for the agriculture community, for the service community and the community at large.”
Ground has been broken for a new $3.8 million Sustainable Technologies Classroom and Lab Building on the Chatham Campus, which will house the biofuels program. Students will train on equipment used in both biodiesel and ethanol production including a seed crusher, small-scale biodiesel reactor and ethanol production facility. In addition, the building itself will be built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver standards and will include the utilization of fuel production byproducts for heat.