Student earns scholarship for conference
IV Leader Staff, Oct. 19, 2006
An Illinois Valley Community College graduate, Jeff
Grabill has been awarded a scholarship to attend and participate in the National
Science Foundation and the American Association of Community Colleges conference
in Washington, D.C. Grabill of Princeton, gave a presentation about his
experiences in the “Making Industry Meaningful In College” project at IVCC.
The project is partially funded by an NSF grant. The Advanced
Technology Education Principal Investigators Conference, Oct. 18-20, brings
together representatives from government and industry, NSF grant recipients and
students or alumni of grant programs. Grabill participated in a MIMIC team in
spring 2006.
He is an FMS Technician at Ingersoll-Rand LCN Closers in
Princeton, where he has been employed since 1979. Grabill was selected for the
conference on the basis of an essay outlining his goals for attending the
conference and the impact the MIMIC project had on him. Grabill was on a MIMIC
team with electronics students, business students and another engineering design
student.
The team simulated an industrial company, working together to
design, manufacture, market and sell a product. “Jeff exemplifies what MIMIC is
all about,” said Dorene Perez, Program Coordinator of CAD/CAE and a MIMIC
instructor. “He became as enthusiastic about the project as the instructors are.
He’s a great team player and good role model for the younger and less
experienced students.”
Grabill called the conference a “wonderful opportunity” and
said he felt honored to represent IVCC and MIMIC. “My experiences in engineering
design at IVCC, and especially MIMIC, have been life changing for me,” he said.
Grabill, who had attended IVCC earlier, returned two years ago with a goal of
earning an associate degree.
He described the last two years at IVCC as “exciting, very
rewarding, and very fulfilling”; so fulfilling that he is currently studying
toward a B.S. in Manufacturing Engineering Technology at Bradley University in
Peoria. He is continuing to serve on the MIMIC Advisory Committee and on the
Learning Ladder Early Childhood Development Center Advisory Board.
He is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, honors society and on the
Dean’s List for two years. A graduate of Malden High School, Grabill began
working at LCN shortly after graduation. He and his wife Shelly have been
married for 15 years. They have a four-year-old daughter, Kaitlynn.
“I have a drive inside me to set an example for my daughter
that no matter what, it is never too late to chase your dreams,” Grabill said.
Perez, the Principal Investigator for the NSF grant, Co-Principal Investigators
Jim Gibson and Rose Marie Lynch, and grant evaluator Sue Caley Opsal also
attended the conference and presented a showcase on MIMIC. Gibson is program
coordinator of electronics; Lynch is a communications professor; and Opsal is an
anatomy/physiology professor.