MTSU faculty and staff appeared on WGNS Radio’s “Action Line” program recently to talk about the goals and plans of the new Engineering Technology chair, a partnership to address opioid abuse in Wilson County and services and activities provided through the MTSU Write program.

The live program with host Scott Walker was broadcast on FM 100.5, 101.9 and AM 1450 from the WGNS studio in downtown Murfreesboro. If you missed it, you can listen to a podcast of the Sept. 20 program here.

Guests included:

Dr. Ken Currie, chair of the Engineering Technology Department, prepares to go on air for the Monday, Sept. 20, WGNS “Action Line” program with host Scott Walker. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

• Dr. Ken Currie, professor and new chair of the Department of Engineering Technology, who discussed his new role and plans for the department. Currie assumed his new role Aug. 1. Prior to that, he was the chair of the Industrial & Management Systems Engineering Department at West Virginia University between 2014-21 and before that was director of the Center for Manufacturing Research at Tennessee Tech.

MTSU has a new Advanced Engineering & Technology Building in the works, so Currie also hopes to build a collaboration with local industries and the community at large to open up an Innovation Maker Space. This space will help local innovators and K-12 students opportunities to make minimally viable prototypes to spur economic development.

Cynthia Chafin, right, associate director of community programs for the MTSU Center for Health and Human Services, and Michael Ayalon, Rural Communities Opioid Response Program coordinator, discuss a new federal grant to combat opioid abuse in Wilson County on the Monday, Sept. 20, WGNS “Action Line” program with host Scott Walker. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

• Cynthia Chafin, associate director of community programs for the MTSU Center for Health and Human Services, and Michael Ayalon, Rural Communities Opioid Response Program coordinator, who a $1 million federal grant that CHHS secured to address opioid abuse and misuse in rural communities in nearby Wilson County.

CHHS, in partnership with DrugFree Wilco, has received the funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is part of a three-year grant that follows completion of an 18-month HRSA-funded planning grant to address the opioid epidemic in rural Wilson County communities. Learn more here.

Amie Whittemore, English lecturer, new MTSU Write direcor and Murfreesboro Poet Laureate, prepares to go on air for the Monday, Sept. 20, WGNS “Action Line” program with host Scott Walker. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

• Amie Whittemore, English lecturer, new director of MTSU Write and Murfreesboro Poet Laureate, who her roles and plans for both. MTSU Write has a number of events scheduled for fall semester, including a partnership with the MTSU English Department’s In Process Reading Series. With support from the Virginia Peck Trust Fund, MTSU Write is offering classes with three of this semester’s In Process readers.

Whittemore is in her second year as Poet Laureate. The laureates receive a stipend and extensive opportunities through their yearlong appointment to educate, advocate for and represent the community through their own creative initiatives.

Students, faculty and staff who are interested in guesting on WGNS to promote their MTSU-related activities should contact Jimmy Hart, director of news and media relations, at 615-898-5131 or via email at jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu.