Areas of Progress – August 30

Areas of Progress is a weekly roundup of measurable areas of improvement and progress from around the state, especially in the areas of education, entrepreneurship, the arts, the environment, energy, agriculture, and philanthropy.

 

UofSC’s String Project keeping orchestra alive in S.C. schools

The nationally recognized USC String Project provides instruction in violin, viola, cello and bass through group classes and orchestras. The program offers beginning classes for children in 3rd through 5th grade and beginning classes for adults.

All classes take place in the beautiful String Project Building adjacent to the School of Music Building at 851 Park Street and parking is convenient in the Discovery Parking Garage.

An important aspect of the program is an affordable fee to make the program available to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn a string instrument.

It has become a model of community service and teacher education for more than 40 other university programs across the country.

 

Town of Hampton’s solar experiment

In the Town of Hampton, a blighted mobile home park was converted to a solar farm which sells the power to the nearby wastewater treatment plant that serves the residents of the Town of Hampton.

Hampton officials formed a public-private partnership with a solar energy project developer, SCE&G and Lowcountry Regional Water Systems. Town council rezoned the property and navigated the transition from a nuisance property to a field of gleaming solar panels by taking a comprehensive approach to code enforcement and community development.

But clearing a blighted area and replacing it with clean, sustainable energy technology wasn’t the only benefit to the Town of Hampton and its residents. Over the next 10 years, the town will receive $270,000 through the lease of the property to the solar developers. That’s enough emission-free electricity to power 147 homes for an entire year.

This project won an Achievement Award in the 1,000 – 5,000 population category this year from the Municipal Association of SC. This video gives more information.

 

The Citadel applied to be one of the institutions of higher education selected for a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center grant. More than 125 institutions applied. The Citadel was one of ten colleges selected (out of 125 institutions who applied) and was awarded a grant of $30,000 approximately a year ago to start a TRHT Center on campus.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities operates the program, which is intended to last three years and is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Newman’s Own. The first year The Citadel’s program leaders engaged with those from the other colleges to develop the collective vision of the THRT centers. This year, each center will begin its own healing or listening sessions.

More information about The Citadel’s THRT center can be found here.

 

 

Clemson University researchers said a new partnership with one of India’s top engineering universities will lead to new medical devices, sensors and startup companies, while helping educate leaders and entrepreneurs for the global healthcare industry.

Clemson is joining with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi to create the Center for Innovative Medical Devices and Sensors.

The long-term vision for the center includes exchanges of faculty members, students and post-doctoral researchers, and to eventually establish joint courses. Some of the first projects will focus on solutions for diabetes and other chronic health issues common to both countries.

For Clemson students, the opportunity to visit labs and do research in India will encourage global-scale thinking.  The first exchanges could begin as soon as next summer.

 

For the fourth year running, the University of South Carolina has set a new record for research activity and sponsored award funding, garnering $258.1 million in fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018).

Internal funding programs have for years been showing demonstrable results in increased sponsored awards funding of projects initially seeded by internal investments.  ASPIRE—a program devised to support new lines of research, interdisciplinary projects and shared infrastructure investments—has seen a return of $174.4 million on the $13.9 million of internal dollars invested since 2012.

 

Would you like to submit an Area of Progress for consideration in the areas of education, entrepreneurship, the arts, the environment, energy, agriculture, and philanthropy? Please reach out to me directly. Alan Cooper – [email protected]