Moraine Park’s West Bend Interactive Media Design (IMD) Club attended the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) in December for students to view and meet artists, attend panels, have fun and learn more about the field.

“Seeing the vendor hall and artists alley was motivational,” Moraine Park IMD student, Brittany Hahn, said. “After leaving the convention, everyone in our club found themselves inspired to get home and get to work on new compositions. As an artist or anyone working within media design, it can sometimes be a struggle to find inspiration or material that piques one’s interest. C2E2 was very refreshing, refilling our hearts and minds with enthusiasm and creativity towards our work.”

The students attended several informational panels surrounding topics such as scriptwriting, portfolio creation, event planning, product promotion, new drawing techniques, programming advice, character designing with clay, career finding, turning hobbies into skills and more.

After attending the convention, Hahn was more motivated than ever to start building her career. When she returned home from C2E2, she took images from a local nail parlor, cleaned them using skills learned in her coursework and sent the images back to the salon. The nail salon immediately asked her to continue doing edits for them.

“This was a great way for me to continue building my portfolio, and something I would not have had the courage to do without attending the convention,” Hahn said. “Had it not been for the IMD Club and Moraine Park, I would not have been able to go. Not only did they cover the cost of the ticket to attend, but also transportation. It was great traveling with like-minded individuals, bonding and having an awesome time at the convention. I am very thankful to have MPTC and the IMD Club, as well as our amazing club overseers and instructors Mr. Ward and Mr. Sibilski.”

Moraine Park’s Interactive Media Design program is a two-year degree program giving students the creative control to produce a variety of unique animations and graphics. Graduates from the program are well-versed in creating animated and live videos, commercials, digital signage and other media for the web. For more information on IMD visit morainepark.edu/academics/programs/interactive-media-design/.

Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac (FDL) Student Senate and participating student clubs collected over 175 gifts for families in need this holiday season through Moraine Park’s new Holiday Helpers program.

The gifts were dropped off by Moraine Park Holiday Helpers on Dec. 16 as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County’s Adopt a Family program. The donation supported 30 children and adults in need from the Fond du Lac area.

Big Brothers Big Sisters assists children with social, emotional and character development through one-to-one mentoring relationships with caring adults. The Adopt a Family program allows people in the community to purchase gifts for families who are unable to do so.

“A very special thank you goes out to Moraine Park Technical College for their support of our Adopt a Family program this year,” executive director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County, Tammy Young, said. “Many of our children in the BBBS of Fond du Lac County program would not have presents under the tree if it weren’t for their generosity.”

After Moraine Park’s Holiday Helpers received the families’ wishlists from Big Brothers Big Sisters, each item was written on the back of an ornament and placed on Student Life boards around Moraine Park’s FDL campus. Students, faculty, staff and the public were encouraged to select an ornament, purchase the item, wrap the gift and return it to the Holiday Helpers to be donated.

“I was blown away by the response and generosity by our students, employees, and clubs with this program,” said Moraine Park student involvement specialist, Lucas Nieman. “All the ornaments were selected within two weeks, and the people I was able to meet and speak to about their reasons for giving gave me an even better perspective on the impact we were making in our community. Being a Holiday Helper wasn’t just about purchasing a gift for someone in need, it was about making a difference in the lives of others.”

Moraine Park’s FDL Student Senate organized the Holiday Helpers effort with ten student clubs including IT Club, Criminal Justice Club, Medical Lab Technicians Club, Cosmetology Club, Culinary Arts Club, Emergency Medical Services Club, Civil Engineering Technology Club, Student Nurses Association Club, Society of Manufacturing Engineering Club and Respiratory Therapy Club.

Moraine Park Technical College Electromechanical Technology students were awarded new robotics technology after placing first at Lab Midwest’s Team Robotics Competition.  

Moraine Park students Anthony Biel of West Bend, Timothy Vukosich of Fond du Lac, and Gregory Van Slyke of Hartford participated in the Team Robotics Competition this fall. The students were presented with the award by Lab Midwest and Fanuc, Dec. 9, at Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus. 

“The recognition is awesome, and I’m glad we were able to win some new equipment for our program,” Biel said. “I placed second at the competition when I was in high school, so I was really excited when I got the chance to compete again and represent Moraine Park.” 

The Team Robotics Competition is part of the Wisconsin Manufacturing & Technology Show– the largest manufacturing technology show in the state. The competition allows high school and college students across Wisconsin to test their robotic programming knowledge and compete against other students using Fanuc technology. Each team was given three hours to complete a set of tasks using a Fanuc Fenceless LR Mate 6-axis robot. The students were judged on their ability to complete the objective, the complexity of their programming, teamwork and general robotics knowledge. 

“We appreciate the students’ incredible work preparing and participating in the competition,” Mike Dietrich, vice president of K-12 and training at Lab Midwest, said. “We love providing opportunities for the students to show off their skills, and we’re very thankful to Moraine Park for building our future workforce.” 

The students were awarded a PLC/HMI Training System from Rockwell and APT Manufacturing to be used by the Moraine Park Electromechanical program. 

“The Electromechanical Technology program plans to use the technology to teach programmable logic controller to industrial robot integration,” said MPTC Electromechanical instructor, Craig Habeck. 

Moraine Park’s Electromechanical Technology program is a 2-year associate degree program. In class, students learn how to think critically and use technology to solve problems and program, use and maintain electromechanical and automated equipment. For more information visit morainepark.edu/academics/programs/electromechanical-technology/. 

Moraine Park Technical College’s Early Childhood Education and Cosmetology programs collaborated earlier this month, Dec. 7, to learn about hair care techniques for children with ethnic hair.

The Cosmetology students used mannequins with textured hair to teach Early Childhood Education students how to detangle, braid, twist and style the hair with elastics.

“A lot of times when we care for children it involves grooming their hair throughout the day,” Anne Paradies, Early Childhood Education instructor, said. “It’s important that students are prepared to care for all hair types.”

The collaboration was spurred by Early Childhood Education student, Monica Dreifuerst, who works at a childcare center.

“We take the children swimming often, and that requires some hair maintenance afterwards,” Dreifuerst said. “I love doing the kids hair, but I realized quicky I didn’t know the best way to care for textured hair. I never want any of the children to feel left out, so I really wanted to learn.”

This training is the first collaboration between Moraine Park’s Cosmetology and Early Childhood Education programs.

“We hope to continue collaborating on this training with future classes,” Paradies said. “The Cosmetology students are the best resource, and it is a great learning experience for everyone involved.”

Moraine Park’s Early Childhood Education program is a 2-year associate degree program. In class, students learn to care for and educate children while playing a key role in their development. Graduates from the program are prepared to work with children from birth to 8-year age range and are well-prepared for a variety of Early Childhood Education roles. For more information visit morainepark.edu/academics/programs/early-childhood-education/.

Moraine Park Respiratory Therapy student, Tammy Wentlandt, was selected to virtually attend the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) House of Delegates conference as Wisconsin’s representative this fall.

Wentlandt is from Jackson, WI, and works as a massage therapist at a physical therapy clinic.

She started at Moraine Park in January 2020 and was encouraged by instructors to become a student member of the AARC for educational opportunities and to get up-to-date industry news.

“The House of Delegates Conference brings together respiratory therapists and students from all around the country,” Wentlandt said. “Basically, it allows the people with boots on the ground to have an open discussion about things they want to change or things they see happening in the field.”

Some of the topics discussed at the 2021 House of Delegates meeting include the deficit of respiratory therapists the field is currently facing and the educational levels currently offered for respiratory therapy.

“I never want to stop learning about respiratory therapy,” Wentlandt said. “I’ve had so many great conversations with people in the field, and I want to continue to ask questions and bring new ideas forward.”

Wentlandt’s current goal is to start working in a hospital and attend more conferences in the future.

“Moraine Park is the foundation for everything I’m working towards,” Wentlandt said. “The door is opening for me, and being able to represent my school at a national conference was very powerful. I encourage anyone who is considering a career change to look into what Moraine Park has to offer.”

Learn more about Moraine Park’s Respiratory Therapy program.

Spring 2022 registration is open, and now is the time to start fueling your future. For a limited time, Moraine Park is offering an application fee voucher. Now until Dec. 17, you can apply for free when you meet with one of Moraine Park’s recruiters to review your goals, program requirements and create an educational plan.

To receive and use the application fee voucher, individuals should:

1. Explore Moraine Park programs and Spring class offerings.
2. Schedule an appointment with a Moraine Park recruiter for before Dec. 15.
3. Receive the voucher code at the end of the appointment.
4. Apply to Moraine Park using the code by Dec. 17.

Learn more about the fee voucher and recruiting appointments here.

Moraine Park Mechanical Design Technology Instructor, Kim Olson, has been involved in several international presentations for Formlabs, a 3D printing manufacturer.

Earlier this spring, Olson presented for Formlabs about Injection Mold Design. There were 1100 registrants and over 360 live attendants from all around the world. 

In June, he gave his second presentation titled Considerations for Injection Molding with 3D Printed Molds vs. Metal Molds. There were over 300 attendees.

In both of these presentations, there were 90-minute Q&A portions where attendees could ask Olson direct questions about his work and 3D printed molds.

His most recent presentation was last week, Oct. 26-27, for the Formlabs Global User Summit. He was one of 40 presenters from countries all around the world.

“There is additive manufacturing and there is subtractive manufacturing,” Olson said. “Think of subtractive manufacturing as carving away at clay. You keep taking clay away until you’ve created something. Additive manufacturing is creating something by building up from nothing. That’s where Formlabs and 3D printing comes in.”

Olson has been teaching at Moraine Park’s West Bend campus for the past 25 years. Some of his classes include AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Jig and Fixture Design, Tool Design and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerance. 

Before bringing his expertise to Moraine Park, Olson designed zinc cast dies for an automotive lock manufacturer in Milwaukee for 15 years.

Over the last 3-4 years he’s gained a significant amount of experience using Formlabs with Moraine Park students.

“We’re all passionate about what we do,” Olson said. “The satisfying part comes when we get the opportunity to share what we do with others.”

For more information on Moraine Park’s Mechanical Design Technology program, visit https://www.morainepark.edu/academics/programs/mechanical-design-technology/.

Need some extra help with classes? Moraine Park offers NetTutor, an online tutoring service, free to all MPTC students via Canvas.

NetTutor can help you with many different classes and topics such as Writing, Nursing/Health, Math, Chemistry, Computer Science/IT, Business and more.

To access NetTutor, follow the steps below.

1. Open Canvas
2. Click on a class
3. Click the link on the left-hand side for NetTutor

For any questions about Net Tutor or any other Moraine Park tutoring services, please contact Tutoring Services Specialist, Mary Daley at 920-924-6488 or mdaley1@morainepark.edu.

Moraine Park Technical College has selected eCampus.com, an online bookstore model, as the new campus bookstore provider.

The College initiated a request for proposal (RFP) process as the current five-year contract approached its expiration. A team of individuals from across the College evaluated the responses.

“This role of this team was to select and implement a bookstore model that both best aligns with the needs and strategic direction of the college and provides support and affordable options for our students,” Carrie Kasubaski, vice president of finance and administration at Moraine Park, said. “In total, we had four responses to our RFP. We appreciate all of the submissions and their interest in doing business with Moraine Park.”

The partnership with eCampus.com will focus initially on online access and presence, coupled with key system integrations to provide students with an intuitive purchasing experience. With single sign-on, users can enjoy instant access to a customized list of professor-selected materials, with the ability to choose from a wide selection of course material format options including new, used, eBook, rental, and Marketplace at significant savings. Further complementing the solution for students is the convenience of on-campus package pickup as well as onsite buybacks.

“We not only reviewed student needs but involved students in the process as well,” Kasubaski said. “It became evident that having the option to purchase or rent books and obtain materials online is highly important.”

As a result of this change, Moraine Park’s partnership with Follet will end, and the three campus bookstore locations will close effective Nov. 9.

“We appreciate Follet and the level of commitment they offered to our students and employees for more than five years,” Kasubaski said. “Moving forward, a transition and implementation plan is underway to ensure a smooth transition for the remainder of the fall semester and into the spring semester.”

The College will continue to explore options for smaller and more accessible on-campus bookstore services such as spirit stores and onsite textbook pick-ups and returns.

“We applaud Moraine Park Technical College for their commitment to improve student outcomes by removing barriers to affordability and accessibility with an innovative online bookstore solution,” Matt Montgomery, eCampus.com President and CEO, said. “We look forward to aligning with Moraine Park’s strategic direction that continues to build a path for student success.”

Students will utilize eCampus.com for their fall book buybacks and spring textbook and course material purchases. Additional details regarding the transition to eCampus.com will be sent directly to students and staff.

“We are excited to partner with eCampus.com and move into the new age of online bookstores,” Kasubaski said. “We know that this change will help our continued goal to ensure classroom success for our students.”

More on eCampus.com:

eCampus.com is a premier online retailer of textbooks and digital course materials. Consistently exceeding industry standards, eCampus.com’s mission is to provide the easiest, fastest, and most affordable way for K-12 and higher education students to buy, rent, or sell textbooks and digital content. The company launched on July 2, 1999, the birthday of original investor Dave Thomas of Wendy’s. From the beginning, their driving force has been meeting the needs of the customers they serve. Remaining an innovative leader in the course materials industry, eCampus.com serves over 300 academic institutions through an innovative course material solutions suite, including full-service Online Bookstores and the eCampus.com ALL Access program. eCampus.com’s mission enables institutions to increase course material affordability, serving millions of students to date. Through products that simplify the adoption, management and procurement of course materials, eCampus.com propels student success by delivering the right course materials, at the right time, at the right price. Learn more at https://www.ecampus.com/.