The NSF ATE community publishes an IMPACT book every two years to highlight the activities and impacts of the projects and centers funded by the program. The “info book” layout and design is an easy read and full of great information and graphics. The 2024-2025 book highlights 30 Years of ATE innovations and impacts in technical education programs implemented by the grantees of this program.
Click here for the 2024-2025 ATE Impacts Book.
It’s a big effort led by the team at ATE Central (
www.atecentral.net) to showcase the important work done in 2-year degree-granting institutions: preparing highly skilled and educated technicians for the continuously changing advanced technologies workforce. The book highlights the amazing innovations in these technical education programs implemented by the grantees of this program in the following technology categories:
- Advanced manufacturing
- Agricultural and environmental
- Biological and chemical
- Engineering
- Information and security
- Micro and nanotechnologies
To be 100% inclusive, NSF ATE funds projects that focus on applied research in technician education in addition to general advanced technologies. Several universities in Florida are engaged in research on technician education funded by NSF ATE. The 2024-2025 Book opens with a timeline showing the
advances made as the NSF celebrates 30 years of funding Advanced Technical
Education and tomorrow’s skilled technical workforce.
In the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies section, there
are four 'centers' and six 'projects' highlighted. FLATE, now part of the
FloridaMakes Network, is proud to be included as a “sustained” center even though it is no longer funded by NSF ATE as a center. FLATE is now supported by
FloridaMakes, project grants from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE),
and project grants from NSF. FLATE’s 20 years of impact in Florida can be found
on
pages 16-17 and it
highlights many FLATE projects, including the biannual ET Forum and J&J
Vision's ongoing partnership with FLATE and many other organizations to develop
a manufacturing talent pipeline.
FLATE is involved with many NSF projects and centers across
the country. With the recently funded NSF ATE National Center for Next
Generation Manufacturing (NCNGM), FLATE will be working to connect the 2-year
advanced manufacturing programs with MEPs across the country. NGNGM is
highlighted on pages 18-19 and serves on the Center’s Leadership team. The
Hidden Innovation Infrastructure is an ATE research project housed at Rutgers
University Economic and Employment Research Center (EERC) where FLATE serves as
a co-principal investigator. The project was focused on unraveling the economic
impacts that ATE grant funding can have on local and regional economies and
innovations. The project produced a case study in its publication titled
“Lessons in Community Colleges Economic Development from NSF ATE” and some
highlights from that study can be found in a call-out box on page 5.
One other NSF ATE Center mentioned in the Engineering Technology section of the Impact Book is housed in a Florida State college. The LASER-TEC
resource center is housed at Indian River State College (IRSC) and offers many
resources that support advanced manufacturing programs (pages 52-53). IRSC is also involved with two projects that
are highlighted in the Engineering Technology section: EdQuantum (Hybrid
Curriculum for Upskilling Photonics Technicians in Quantum Technologies – Page
61) and NEVC (National Electric Vehicle Consortium - Page 63). One final project from Miami Dade College is
highlighted in the Information and Securities section: WomenRISE (Women Reinvigorating
Industry Support and Empowerment).
The NSF ATE Impacts book showcases some of the most
impactful and innovative funded projects, but there are so many more across the
country with 37 scattered in Florida’s state colleges and universities, working
quietly on their own technician education innovations.
You can learn more about
the NSF ATE programs, read the request for proposals, and see brief overviews
of the funded projects in Florida at www.nsf.gov/ate. You can download a pdf
copy of the ATE Impact Book at the link above or contact Dr. Barger
(marilyn.barger@flate.org) to request a hard copy... or ask about how to turn
your own innovative idea into a funded project.
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