Williamstown, NJ (PRWEB) November 9, 2008
SUNY Maritime College engineering students are among the first undergraduate students in the United States and the world, to work in an engineering laboratory totally outfitted with the break-through “C Stamp” Microcomputer-Based Hardware Platform for Engineering from A-WIT Technologies. The C Stamp uses a subset of standard C with standard C functions and offers instructors and students a “better new alternative by looking at an old problem in a new and different way.”
Developed by A-WIT Technologies of Williamstown, New Jersey, the C Stamp has been proven to help retention by engaging students in interesting projects that emulate real world situations. It was first introduced in June 2006. Close to 100 educational institutions in the United States and around the world, use the technology in their engineering curriculum.
“The better our engineering education is, the better students are prepared to enter the high tech work force and graduate school,” said John Bockelmann, Professor in the Engineering Department, in commenting on SUNY Maritime College’s use of the A-WIT C Stamp technology in the college’s engineering labs.
C Stamp modules are micro controllers (self-contained single chip computers) that are designed for use in a wide variety of applications. Projects that form an embedded system, meaning that they have some level of intelligence derived from hardware-software interaction, can use a C Stamp module as the controller.
Using a subset of the standard C programming language and a software infrastructure called WC, the C Stamp’s power is derived from A-WIT provided commands, standard function calls, and software. SUNY Maritime College’s A-WIT engineering lab allows instructors the ability to utilize enriched microcontroller based electronics and robotics activity kits in their classroom activities.
Speaking about A-WIT Technologies’ work with SUNY Maritime College, A-WIT’s President, Dr. Orlando Hernandez stated, “What we have done with the C Stamp is to offer the best of both worlds: a professional C based development environment and a curriculum with the ease of use provided by our software infrastructure.”
Continuing to speak about the innovative engineering program at SUNY Maritime College, Dr. Hernandez went on to say, “SUNY Maritime has taken a novel approach that will be of great benefit to their engineering students. This mode mimics the real world.”
Professor Bockelmann is using the C Stamp microcomputer environment to introduce the students to the C programming language as well as introduce them to process control computer applications. Prof. Bockelmann added, “I have maintained for a long time that the teaching of a programming language in a hands-on environment, such as what the C Stamp offers, would provide a big incentive to learn the language. This has been borne out by the initial class where the students exhibited significant interest in learning C in order to program the C Stamp boards and make them perform sensing and control tasks.”
About A-WIT
A-WIT Technologies Inc. develops, markets, sells, and distributes microcomputer modules, associated hardware, and software tools. A-WIT Technologies has won acclaim for the company’s commitment to low pricing, high quality and superior technical support. The C Stamp product line was introduced over 2 years ago with the mission to deliver innovative engineering education solutions that add value to students learning experiences and teachers. To date, A-WIT offers over 200 products in 10 product categories serving the Education, Consumer, and Industrial markets. For more information, go to http://www.c-stamp.com.
About SUNY Maritime
State University of New York Maritime College, in Throgs Neck, New York has received national recognition from U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
U.S. News & World Report ranked SUNY Maritime College’s engineering program #87 among the top 100 undergraduate engineering program in the United States. The college also holds the distinction of being one of only 18 colleges in the nation selected by the U.S. Navy to educate enlisted nuclear engineers prior to commissioning as officers. SUNY Maritime College is also one of only six institutions of higher education in the United States that offers a Naval Architecture degree.
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