Georgia Gwinnett College’s (GGC) outstanding faculty and staff were honored at its annual fall recognition ceremony recently. The college recognized six faculty and two staff members for embodying its four pillars of scholarship, leadership, service and creativity.
Rahaf Barakat, an associate professor of information technology in the School of Science and Technology, received the 2022-23 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award. Recipients of this award are nominated by students. Barakat came to the U.S. at a young age “seeking a better life and future.” She said she was drawn to the IT field for several reasons, but first and foremost was her deep-rooted love for technology.
Since joining GGC in 2015, Barakat received GGC’s Top Claw Award and in 2017, was nominated for the school’s Outstanding Faculty Student Engagement Award. Additionally, the Women in Technology organization included her among its “Fearless Women in Technology.” Barakat said GGC’s diversity and status as an access institution initially attracted her to the school.
The other award winners included:
Dr. David Weiss, a part-time English faculty member in the School of Liberal Arts, received the Outstanding Faculty Part-Time Teaching Award.
Dr. David Kirschner, associate professor of sociology and human services and chair of the Cultural Studies Department in the School of Liberal Arts, received the Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award..
Dr. Sairam Tangirala, associate professor of physics in the School of Science and Technology, received the Outstanding Faculty Creativity and Scholarship Award.
Dr. Cynthia Woodbridge, professor of chemistry in the School of Science and Technology, received the Outstanding Faculty Service Award..
Dr. Binh Tran, associate professor of information technology in the School of Science and Technology, was given the Outstanding Faculty Student Engagement Award.
Anessa Griffin, budget and program coordinator for the School of Science and Technology, received the Outstanding Staff Award for supporting more than 205 full-time faculty in obtaining equipment, instruments and other supplies needed to implement high-impact teaching practices
Kathija Jamaloodeen, program coordinator for the School of Health Sciences, also received the Outstanding Staff Award for coordinating the nursing and health science programs.
Two Georgia college sign PT agreement with PCOM
Two Georgia colleges recently inked an agreement for local students interested in becoming physical therapists (PT). Both Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) of Lawrenceville and Young Harris College (YHC) in the Georgia mountains, have agreed to terms to help prospective PT students at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Georgia (PCOM Georgia) in Suwanee.
Lauren Tapp, chair of the department of exercise science and physical education at GGC, says that the partnership is significant because it will provide our exercise science students with a guided pathway to matriculate into a physical therapy program, while also providing PCOM Georgia’s physical therapy program with students who are well-prepared for graduate study.
Drew Van Horn, president of Young Harris College, says: “This agreement with the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine is a great moment here at Young Harris College. Partnering with a reputable institution like PCOM Georgia allows us to offer educational opportunities to students in the physical therapy field. This partnership expands our ability to offer more options for students in this region interested in this field of medicine.”
Ruth M. Maher, professor and chair of the PCOM Georgia physical therapy department, says: “With a significant national shortage of physical therapists, the affiliation agreement between PCOM Georgia’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program and these two colleges couldn’t be timelier.”
She adds: “The agreement pathway will provide high-quality educational and experiential opportunities for students from both institutions who are interested in pursuing a career as physical therapists. The benefit for PCOM Georgia is that the agreement will enhance our program’s ability to meet the needs of our communities, while potentially improving diversity within the healthcare workforce.”
Gwinnett firm finalist for $3 million prize from N.Y. state
A Gwinnett County start-up firm is among 20 worldwide companies competing for $3 million in prize money. Empire State Development Announces Finalists for Round Five of $3 million Grow-NY Global Food and Agriculture Business Competition.
Among the 20 is Hypercell Technologies of Peachtree Corners. The company provides rapid point-of-care diagnostics for the food chain, ensuring early identification and management of biological contaminants from production to transformation with increased speed and accuracy. The principals in the firm include, from left, Dr. Terry Wasmoen, Dr. Alex Prokup and Dr. Bruno Jactel.
Empire State Development (ESD) and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) announced the 20 finalists selected to take part in year five of Grow-NY, a food and agriculture business competition focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage, and agriculture innovation cluster in upstate New York. The competition is funded through New York state’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative and administered by CREA. Winning companies will be required to make a positive economic impact in the Grow-NY region, which comprises 22 counties located in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the southern tier regions.
A second Georgia firm, MycoLogic of Kennesaw, is also a finalist in the competition.
It is developing a comprehensive solution for starting or expanding specialty mushroom cultivation businesses. They provide hardware and software for the semi-autonomous cultivation of specialty mushrooms, as well as biological support and consultation.
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