The American Association of Community Colleges with the support
of the National Science Foundation held the 25th
National ATE Principal Investigators Conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in
Washington, DC. This year the conference brought together approximately 850
participants representing community colleges, business and industry, secondary
school systems, and four-year colleges. The theme/main focus of the conference
was on the critical issues related to advanced technological education.
This year FLATE participated in the
two-day showcase sessions where there were approximately 236 booths with NSF
ATE centers and sponsored projects from all around the country. The showcase
sessions provided grantees an opportunity to exhibit their projects, products
and share information about their programs, mission and vision.
Florida was very well represented at this event with projects
from all across the state. Florida Keys Community College presented a session
on developing a 21st century training program in the Florida Keys for Renewable
Alternative Energy Technologies. Florida State College at Jacksonville's
session centered on enhancing the instrumentation and control technician
program on instrumentation acquisition and the iNoVATE Expansion Project
(iNoVATE-X). Florida State University hosted a session on assessing educational
pathways for manufacturing in rural communities with an Investigation of new
and existing programs in Northwest Florida. Lake-Sumter State College showcased
their Enhancing an Energy Technology Associate Degree program designed
to meet employer needs. Other showcase sessions included one from Miami Dade
College on cybersecurity opportunities and methods that promote access and
student success, and the inter American Campus Dade Enterprise Cloud Computing
Initiative. St. Johns River State College's session was focused on enhancing
critical reasoning in computer education while St. Petersburg College presented
their session on biomedical engineering technology and pathways to medical
device manufacturing, networking, and cybersecurity. There was also a session
from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu Community College on the development of
a data analytics education pathway. The University of South Florida's PathTech
LIFE project that works closely with FLATE presented their findings and best
practices on constructing a national survey of engineering technology students
through regional and statewide testing. PathTech LIFE also presented an
additional session titled PathTech LISTEN that cented on Mixed Methods
Longitudinal Investigations of Students in Technician Education. Last but
not least Valencia Community College's session was focused on their Engineering
Technology Supply Chain Automation grant.
Florida was also present during the
student and alumni poster session with Florida Keys Community College
presenting highlights on renewal energy course work and academic and career
pathways, and Miami Dade College featuring research that was used to evaluate
the effect of Schinus tree extracts on breast cancer cell migration. FLATE has
become involved with several other organizations, grants and institutions to
work on projects that are synergistic and supportive of its goals and
objectives. PathTech LIFE and Mechatronics Community are
representative of projects that FLATE has worked closely with over the
years. PathTech LIFE at the
University of South Florida seeks to understand how student learning,
interests, family, and employment (LIFE) experiences affects enrollment and
retention. Data from the latest report shows that FL PathTech LIFE surveyed
3,216 students from 96 technician programs including large numbers of women,
underrepresented minorities, and students from all stages of life. A new
project, PathTech LISTEN, will conduct two follow up interviews with 150 LIFE
respondents. Lakshmi Jayaram, Will Tyson, University of South Florida, Tampa,
FL; Danielly Orozco-Cole, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa.
Building a
Mechatronics-Friendly Community from K-to-Graye Sinergy meeting
focused on student and industry engagement in mechatronics, advanced
manufacturing, automation, and related programs. It is hosted and facilitated
by ATE projects at Central CC (NE), Piedmont Virginia CC (VA), College of Lake
County (IL) and Hagerstown CC (MD), and advanced manufacturing centers RCNGM,
and Dr. Marilyn Barger, FLATE, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL.
In addition to the showcase, FLATE
participated in several presentations, forums and discussion sessions such as “Working
with Regional, State, or Federal Industry Organizations”, “Needed Math:
Closing the Gap between Math that’s Taught, Learned, and Needed”, and “Preparing Technicians for the Future of
Work”, “Applied Research 101-PathTech LIFE & LISTEN Research in Action”
as part of the high impact workshops and “Building a Mechatronics-Friendly Community
from K-to-Gray” Synergy Meeting. For more information about the NSF ATE
projects and centers visit www.atecenters.org. For
information on FLATE and its partnership with other NSF ATE centers and
activities, contact Executive Director of FLATE, Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org, or visit www.fl-ate.org/programs/ate-centers.
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