Oceanside CA— Nordson Corporation Foundation has awarded MiraCosta College a $150,000 grant to develop a STEM Learning Center.
STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach.
The Learning Center, which MiraCosta will name the Nordson STEM Learning Center, will provide STEM students with a dedicated space to study, collaborate and receive individual instruction. Another goal of the center will be to recruit historically under-represented students into the STEM field, as well as incorporate STEM-specific outreach strategies into schools and the community at large.
This is not the first time Nordson has helped fund a MiraCosta College project. In 2011, it provided the college $4,700 in support of the Summer 2012 STEM Camp, and in 2014, it provided MiraCosta with $16,000 in order to purchase a CO2 laser cutter for the school’s Machinist Technology Training Program.
“We are so excited to collaborate with Nordson again,” said MiraCosta College Superintendent/President Dr. Sunny Cooke. “Nordson’s dedication and continued enthusiasm for helping the college inspire interest in the STEM field has already done so much for MiraCosta students, and we expect many great things to come from this center.”
“The world we live in is becoming more technically complex each and every year,” said Nordson Corporation’s Vice President of Advanced Technology Systems Joe Stockunas. “The STEM Learning Center at MiraCosta College will provide students with valuable skills that will enhance their employment possibilities and allow them to contribute to and take part in an integral part of our economy.”
The $150,000 gift represents thirty-three percent of the project’s construction costs.
The STEM Learning Center will be located inside the library on the college’s Oceanside Campus, with construction to begin June 2017. The center is expected to open in time for fall semester 2017.

About Nordson Corporation

Nordson Corporation (Nasdaq: NDSN) engineers, manufactures, and markets products for precision material dispensing, fluid management and related applications. Operating in nearly 40 countries and headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, the company is currently expanding its Carlsbad, California operations. The Carlsbad facilities support sales, service, applications, marketing, product research, development and manufacturing of a segment of Nordson’s Advanced Technology Systems Group comprising automated fluid dispensers, plasma surface treatment and automated optical inspection equipment. The products are world renowned in the electronics manufacturing and semiconductor industry for market leadership in technology and for an award-winning global service network.

About MiraCosta College:

The MiraCosta Community College District serves the north-coastal area of San Diego County, offering credit classes in more than 70 disciplines plus noncredit and fee-based courses on multiple campuses. More than 15,000 credit students and 12,000 noncredit and fee-based students work toward associate degrees, transfer to four-year universities and workforce readiness certificates. The college serves a wide spectrum of educational needs in the region ranging from programs for adult education, basic skills, and ESL, to a California Community College pilot program offering the nation’s first baccalaureate degree in biomanufacturing. MiraCosta College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).