2021-2022 Innovation of the Year Award Winner: Madison Area Technical College

Madison College Advancing Virtual Reality

Madison Area Technical College is a leader in virtual reality (VR) but realized greater possibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We created VR scenarios for health care training that transcend what is possible in simulation and even reality. With the touch of a button, a virtual patient can go into cardiac arrest and students are put into the live situation to assess and react in real time. As clinical sites closed due to the pandemic, we put paramedic students through VR simulations that successfully replicated what was lost to unavailable clinical hours. VR training has also been embraced by faculty in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) program. By replicating a manifold gauge in VR, HVAC students can learn how to operate it safely prior to using it in our lab, where toxic gasses can be expelled if done incorrectly. We are currently working on developing a birthing simulator for the college’s Nursing and EMT students, along with scenarios for the Respiratory Therapy, Architecture, Botany, and other programs.

Innovators

  • William Ballo, Faculty, Academic Technology, CETL
  • Carly Brady, Manager, Academic Technology, CETL
  • Brian Moore, Faculty, HVAC
  • Randy Way, Associate Dean, Engineering, Science and Mathematics
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