Blackhawk Celebrates 10 Years of Lab Programs

Blackhawk Technical College celebrated its tenth anniversary of offering excellent lab career programs on the beautiful Monroe Campus on Thursday, October 7. The college has been in Monroe much longer than ten years, but this anniversary celebrates important careers in the laboratory sciences.

Throughout the celebration, tours and demos were held highlighting the Medical Laboratory Technician, Laboratory Technician Assistant, and Lab Food Science Technician programs.

Kathi Winker, Medical Laboratory Technician Program Instructor, kicked off the evening address by welcoming all attendees. She joined Blackhawk Technical College as an adjunct faculty member teaching Phlebotomy classes on Monday nights for almost seven years while also working full-time. Kathi returned to Blackhawk to teach full-time and started with the first cohort of Medical Laboratory Technician students in Spring 2010.

The lab programs are also taught by additional outstanding instructors, including Dan Harrigan and Kevin Holman. Dan is a molecular biologist and microbiology specialist who started his career in pharmaceutical research developing therapies for brain disorders. Kevin is a biochemist and lead lab manager for FlexLab, bringing an additional manufacturing focus to the program.

Through the hard work of our team at the Monroe Campus, these state-of-the-art programs have been created. “This program exemplifies one of Blackhawk’s many nationally-ranked educational pathways leading to outstanding careers, and this ten-year anniversary celebrates a long, rich history of excellence while changing lives and helping create a talented workforce for our health care partners,” said Dr. Pierner, President of Blackhawk Technical College.

Blackhawk has been offering hybrid courses for years. This wasn’t something that was put together during the pandemic; it was already there. Many classes are hybrid featuring an online portion and a hands-on laboratory portion. Over the past year, the MLT program has refined many simulation products knowing that being hands-on is an integral part of developing good technicians.

Jennifer Murphy, the featured speaker, added, “I commend Blackhawk Technical College and this Campus for always being forward-thinking.” As a former BTC faculty member, Jennifer helped get the Medical Laboratory Technician Program accredited and taught the first online Blood Bank class. She continues to support the program by serving on the advisory board and helping Blackhawk stay up to date on all of the latest laboratory techniques, products, and services.

Currently serving as the Vice President of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Research and Safety Division, Jennifer has been with the organization for fifteen years. During her presentation, she shared the importance of pivoting during challenging times. Thermo Fisher Scientific became a huge part of the COVID-19 response. “We worked to provide essential lab equipment, PPE, testing, and supplies for vaccine development during the pandemic,” shared Jennifer. “We were manufacturing about 25 million tests per week.” The change in operations took place within weeks, but the actual testing could not be possible without the laboratory professionals, nurses, and frontline healthcare workers.

“My challenge to you is… know your why, embrace the change, and keep being awesome,” Jennifer said. “We can’t do what we’re doing at Thermo Fisher Scientific without all the great work that you all are doing. I’m a huge fan of this program and super glad to be a part of it.”

The lab program offerings have expanded over the years and continue to grow. “It’s a really great program that has the right mix of curriculum-based learning and hands-on laboratory learning,” added Jennifer. “We really need great medical laboratory professionals, and this program will set students up for success. It’s also flexible so that students can have a family or job and still get that quality education, close to home, and that’s super important.”

Blackhawk is very proud of its graduates, the continued success of our programs, and our community partnerships. “Congratulations to the graduates, thank you for all of the community support for these great programs, and get the word out that these programs are some of the best in the country,” Dr. Pierner added.

In addition to celebrating the tenth anniversary of excellent lab programs, there was another important recognition to be made. Special congratulations to Vivian Carlino who will be retiring this December. We honor your years of instruction and celebrate the legacy of hard work and dedication you will leave behind.