2016 FLATE National Visiting Committee Meeting and Stakeholders Dinner

FLATE is hosting its 12^th National Visiting Committee (NVC) Meeting in February. The Committee is

made up of leaders in industry, education, workforce and economic development from across the nation, with local representation, and is a required component for all NSF ATE large projects and centers to have a National Visiting Committee. NVC members serve as advisors working with the grantees and NSF to help achieve the stated goals and objectives. The committee also assesses the plans and progress of the project, provides advice to project staff, and reports both to NSF and the project or center leadership.

This year FLATE is hosting its NVC meeting in Tampa. Of special interest is the Dinner Meeting for FLATE's 'invited list' of stakeholders and guests. The Dinner will be held Feb 4, 2016 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Columbia Restaurant (2117 E. 7th Ave.) in historic Ybor City in Tampa, and will provide FLATE's invitees an opportunity to meet NVC members.

Program agenda for the three hour event includes:

• Networking & FLATE Overview (Past and Present)
• Introductions & Welcome: Dr. Marilyn Barger & Dr. Celeste Carter, NSF
• Dinner Speaker: Leo Reddy, President & CEO, MSSC
• FLATE Future: Dr. Richard Gilbert (stakeholder input period)
• Closing remarks: Dr. Marilyn Barger

Meeting discussions will center on manufacturing education, training issues and ideas with 

member(s) of the National Visiting Committee, the Florida Department of Education, Industry and CareerSource Florida. Dr. Celeste Carter, Program Director for the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., and Dr. Marilyn Barger, Executive Director of FLATE will welcome all guests to the meeting. Leo Reddy, Chairman and CEO of the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council in Washington, D.C., will be the special guest speaker. “It is an exciting time for manufacturing here in Florida and across the nation” said Dr. Marilyn Barger, who noted FLATE’s role in leveraging manufacturing excellence across Florida. “For the past 12 years, FLATE has been ‘the go-to’ organization for manufacturing and advanced technical education in Florida,” and FLATE is excited to continue making an impact and building on a community of practice to support high performance skilled workforce for Florida’s manufacturing sectors.

Invitees are asked to register for the Dinner at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nvc-dinner-tickets-20413746064. The last day to RSVP and confirm attendance is January 25, 2016. For more information about FLATE’s National Visiting Committee and upcoming Stakeholders Dinner visit www.fl-ate.org, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org/813.259.6578.