The Center for Advanced and Emerging Technology (CAET) at Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Omaha, Nebraska, has received a 2019 Good Design is Good Business Award from Architectural Record. The annual awards program recognizes exemplary architectural solutions that have been instrumental in the growth and success of a range of businesses. CAET is one of eight diverse projects receiving the award this year.

The new CAET facility was built as part of MCC Omaha’s 2010 Master Plan update, with goals of reducing facility redundancy and improving the college's delivery of education to the community. CAET’s main purpose is to develop innovative academic programming that targets industry-specific advanced and emerging technologies, which are often largely undefined and constantly evolving. In addition to academic programming, CAET serves area industries through workforce development and by allowing MCC's Workforce Innovation Division to provide training to virtually any industry in the area.

CAET was created with a focus on community input and industry needs in order to provide a pipeline for students to seamlessly progress from training to jobs. Much of the equipment within CAET was provided by industry partners, creating spaces that mirror real-world environments and offering training that is nearly identical to what students will experience after graduation.

With the new ability to implement workforce training goals, the building’s success is beginning to show. Six out of seventeen students enrolled in a new Prototype Design degree received job offers after completing only half of the two-year program at CAET. Industry training at MCC Omaha is up more than 300 percent, generating income for the school and employment opportunities for students.

This new facility was envisioned as a vessel for pilot-scale application between students, faculty, and industry partners. BNIM’s human-purposed integrated design (HP.id) methodology yielded a powerful new asset for MCC that is helping the college achieve their goals. The new CAET facility is proving that good design is good business by offering an environment that creates clear pathways from training to jobs.

Read the full article on Arch Record here.