Wireless Industry and Education Collaboration

Explosive growth in the wireless areas of cellular and digital personal communications services over the past few years has been shadowed by a decrease in the availability of educated workers. At the heart of a wireless technician's and engineer's education is basic radio frequency (RF) knowledge. With educational budget constraints, these were exactly the lower attendance courses that were cut during the escalation of computer science courses. The mission of Global Wireless Education Consortium (GWEC (pronounced Gee Wec) is to develop a 2-year technician educational platform that graduates technical specialists for the wireless industry. GWEC was founded by Motorola, Lucent Technologies, Ericsson, AT&T Wireless, Northern Telecom, and AirTouch Communications with the University of Texas at Dallas, Minnesota State University, and South Central Technical College (N. Mankato, MN). Current members include: the University of Massachusetts at Lowell; the University of Oklahoma; Seattle Central Community College; California Polytechnic University; Ridgewater Community College (Willmar, MN); Michigan Technological University; Connecticut Community Colleges; and Washington State University.

GWEC initiatives apply to the DUE themes of faculty development and the integration of technology into education. This project is conducting curriculum and resource development and dissemination including the development and provision of wireless curriculum, online education, and industry resource guides.