"Any time that first responders can upgrade their skills during these difficult times is in the residents' best interest," said Walt Omler, director of the Emergency Medical Services Training Center in Delaware County.

The center, which offers a drill tower and a burn building for the county's emergency services personnel in training, is now partnering with Penn State to provide a new, noncredit certificate course on homeland security.

The course, produced by Penn State Fayette, gives "the better perspective of what the country is doing with homeland security on the federal, state and local levels—from its roots to the current domestic terrorism issue," said Ted Mellors, director of Penn State Fayette's Center for Community and Public Safety.

"We desperately needed a major institution to take an interest in this," said Omler, adding that the Delaware County facility can serve the hub of the Philadelphia airport and area residents.

Penn State Fayette is working with other Penn State campuses to deliver the eight-week course in their region.

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The U.S. Army's online education initiative, eArmyU—which offers a Master's Degree in Adult Education through the Penn State World Campus to help meet student-soldier education needs—has recently added the following World Campus programs to its offerings:

• Associate Degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management
• Associate and Bachelor Degrees in Letters, Arts and Sciences
• Associate Degree in Dietetic Food Systems Management

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A student field tests new wireless technology on a GE locomotive.

GE Transportation Systems needed a reliable, low-cost system to track hazardous materials on its rail cars. So it turned to a new center at Penn State Erie dedicated to systems design and integration of wireless communication and navigation technology. Within six months, the Center for Navigation, Communication and Information Systems (CNCIS) produced a prototype ready to field test.

While it may be small, the CNCIS is becoming increasingly mighty. The University's well-known Pennsylvania Transportation Institute established the center in 2002 so the institute could become more involved in electronic intelligent vehicle systems, including remote monitoring and diagnostics.

For example, in addition to tracking materials on cars, "the rail industry is interested in diagnosing the health of its locomotives," explained Dr. Robert Gray, director of CNCIS. "With sensors, we can play doctor with the train." If something's not right, the device will notify controllers.

By working on such methods to ensure vehicle and cargo safety—for both the rail and trucking industries—the center is quickly making a name for itself commercially.

Glenn Shaffer of GE applauded the collaboration, adding that it gave GE the "benefit of Penn State's assistance with new technology for our customers."

For more information, see http://www.pti.psu.edu.

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