Dominion gives $45K for STEM labs at CSM

The College of Southern Maryland Foundation has received a $45,000 grant from the Dominion Foundation to upgrade equipment in CSM’s electronics laboratories. The upgrades are to help attract more students into the school’s engineering, engineering technology, nuclear engineering technology and computer science programs, according to a CSM news release.

Dominion Foundation’s Higher Educational Partnership Grant was presented Sept. 12 at CSM’s Leonardtown Campus, where a majority of the upgrades will take place. The other two campuses in La Plata and Prince Frederick will also receive upgrades.

The foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Virginia-based energy company that owns and operates the liquified natural gas dock at Cove Point in Calvert County. The foundation expects to award $1 million in grants to educational institutions in 11 states this year. Last year, it awarded 40 institutions up to $50,000 each to underwrite projects in energy, environmental studies, engineering and workforce development.

Since 2002, the Dominion Foundation has provided nearly $2.3 million in grants within Maryland.

“Education shapes the future of America by preparing students to meet the changing needs of the workplace,” Mike Frederick, vice president of LNG operations at Dominion Cove Point LNG, said in a statement. “This grant will help the College of Southern Maryland acquire the computer equipment that is vital to the educational programs provided by the college.”

The Dominion Foundation grant will fund the materials needed for the electronics program, which include electronic test equipment such as digital oscilloscopes, sweep generators, digital multi-meters and spectrum analyzers, breadboards for building electronic circuits, soldering equipment, programmable logic controllers (PLC), work benches, and consumables.

“CSM’s engineering and computer science programs are designed to bring together partner resources, technical expertise and diverse initiatives into a regional approach to address local workforce needs,” CSM President Brad Gottfried said a statement. “Through this partnership with the Dominion Foundation, CSM will now be able to fund state-of-the-art equipment for our electronics program that will allow us to better prepare students for employment in a high-technology industrial environment.”

The upgraded labs will serve both engineering and general physics programs as well as computer technology related programs.