NSF’s Continued Commitment to Advanced Technological Education in Florida

Peabody here! Last month we dialed 1991 into the “Way Back Machine,” and looked at the first decade of NSF-ATE in Florida. Now we move the gauge up to 2002, which holds the record with respect to total number of NSF-ATE awards in Florida. Awards were secured by Santa Fe Community College, Hillsborough Community College, University of South Florida, Brevard Community College and Florida State College at Jacksonville.

2002 was a significant year for ATE Centers of Excellence. Al Koller from Brevard Community College and Marilyn Barger were Principle Investigators for Space Tech and FLATE, respectively. In addition, Drew Hoff’s High School Technology Initiative project marked the beginning of a major effort to identify STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with the high school science and math curriculum. This project ultimately produced curriculum that was adopted by school districts in 13 states across the country, and provided professional development to over 600 teachers nationwide. Evan Kuharich’s project at the Florida State College at Jacksonville partnered with Gulf Coast State College to adapt and implement curricula developed by the ATE Advanced Integrated Manufacturing Center in Dayton, Ohio (AIM Center).

In 2003, Bob Williams from Daytona State College, continued his award winning efforts with the announcement that the Information Technology Education Center in Florida (iTEC) was to become an Advanced Technological Regional Center of Excellence in Information Technology. June Johns from College of Central Florida, received project funds to increase the number, quality, and diversity of prospective mathematics and science teachers through an interdisciplinary program undertaken through teacher training and pre-training activities. 2004 saw NSF-ATE investing in Florida’s engineering technology infrastructure. FLATE received continued funding as an ATE Center of Excellence with a major objective to install a statewide Engineering Technology A.S. degree program while Gsny Hawat from Valencia College, was awarded project funds to develop coursework for a new robotics and simulation specialization within its Electronics Engineering Technology associate degree program.

2005 accented projects that created partnerships with local school districts. McCraney Michelle was the Principle Investigator for an exciting project that featured a technical work based IT learning program for high school students dually enrolled in computer and information technology degree programs at the Daytona State College Advanced Technology Center (ATC). The ATC is a public-private partnership of the community college, two K-12 school districts, and the business community. Susan Roark’s, Indian River Community College, represented a collaborative effort between Indian River Community College and the Martin County School District. Project CAPSTONE created and implemented an interdisciplinary, project-based model to prepare high school students for technical careers. Shri Goyal from St. Petersburg College, was awarded a project grant to address a national need for well-trained professionals in information technology security. This project represented a collaboration between St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida, and Seminole State College.

The second half of the first decade of this millennium accented NSF-ATE support of new technician issues developing within the state. St Petersburg College received grants to support a partnership between medical device companies and a group of community/technical colleges to form the medical device industry education consortium (MDIEC). Robin Willoughby from Indian River State College received ATE support to build a partnership with industry, government, high schools, and universities to meet the technician workforce needs of southeast Florida's expanding biotech research industry. In 2010, Kevin Cooper, also at Indian River State College, received funding to address the fact that a significant percentage of the nuclear power industry workforce is close to retirement.

These last three examples merely emphasize the fact that Florida’s community and state college technician education programs are on top of the needs of Florida’s industry, and that NSF-ATE is right there, ready to help these colleges meet those community-defined workforce needs. NSF-ATE is committed to the education of the technician workforce in Florida. The program works in and for Florida, and all of the ATE Centers and projects funded in Florida have altered the way Florida prepares its technician workforce. Next month, we will just tweak (a technical term indicated a gradient adjustment) the knob on the “Way Back Machine” just a smidgen (at technical term used to indicate a small tweak) to see what happened last year.

For more information on the NSF ATE projects and grants visit www.fl-ate.org, www.atecenters.org, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org, and Dr. Richard Gilbert at gilbert@usf.edu.


Want to apply for an NSF grant? Enroll NOW for FLATE's professional development workshop, or check out the announcements section on the blog!

Click to enlarge image

sTEm–at-Work (Puzzle #26): Diagnostic Expectation from an Inductance Test

" No answer you say. Ok, just hear me out!!!

I know I promised that you would get an answer for the last puzzle (Puzzle 26). I know I could tell you a sad story about my homework and my dog. However you have heard that sorry song too many times already, and I think you would rather read the following: The answer to the puzzle will show up if you answer the puzzle one more time. This way you get to think about the puzzle so that stays fresh in your mind as you check out the answer. Please feel free to use the blog space to generate some conversation about the puzzle and its use in your teaching environment."

sTEm-at-work Puzzle 26

A technician is working with a vehicle diagnostic system to determine if a subsystem in the vehicle is operating correctly. The technician uses the diagnostic system to compare the flow of charge, the current, in the subsystem’s electronic circuit to the energy divided by the amount of charge, the voltage, required if the subsystem is operating correctly.

The subsystem under test has a current voltage behavior that is characteristic of an inductor. For this type of subsystem, the voltage needed is proportional to rate the current changes with time. The technician recorded values of current (the orange dotted curve) and voltage (the blue solid curve) verses time for the subsystem circuit being tested and examined the graphs of that data for an expected pattern.

The vehicle subsystem is operating correctly. (yes or no). Check your answer for Puzzle 26 at http://www.fl-ate.org/.

Middleton High School Engineering Students Experience Manufacturing Close-Up

Seventy students enrolled in Middleton High School’s engineering program were given the opportunity to explore the exciting world of modern manufacturing and related careers in January. As part of an annual “Industry Day,” Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE), housed at Hillsborough Community College’s Brandon Campus, coordinated tours to six local manufacturing companies where students got a first-hand view of real-life applications of their curriculum. Middleton utilizes Project Lead the Way’s (PLTW) curriculum which focuses on activities, project, and problem-based (APPB) learning. Central to this Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum are hands-on projects that help students understand how the information and skills they are learning in the classroom may be applied in everyday life.


Students toured six sites including Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT), a manufacturer of precision components for the aerospace and defense industries. At SMT, students had the opportunity to handle components such as valve bodies for missile defense systems and parachute release system assemblies. At Plasma-Therm, a manufacturer of etch and film deposition equipment for global semiconductor and related specialty markets, students wore “bunny suits”, shoe covers and hair nets before touring the manufacturing clean room facility. Tampa Armature Works (TAW) gave students an in-depth look at their operations starting from incoming supplies to the final product. At TAW students learned about the construction of huge switchgear enclosures for the phosphate industry, wiring complexity for various applications,

and machining equipment, several weighing in at over 50 tons, needed to produce their products. Students also visited TAW’s Motor division, the premier provider of all types of electric motor repair and service. At this facility, students learned about TAW Motor Division's role in repairing and rebuilding electric motors of all sizes. In addition to the technical presenation, TAW staff treated students to an informative and motivational speech about careers and life.

Staff at Vulcan Machine (a provider of high quality machining since 1978) gave students a tour of the entire shop. They stopped at each equipment station, showed product flow from raw stock to finished item, and explained the operations necessary to consistently produce at top quality levels. At the Mitre Corporation, staff welcomed the students, and conducted a facility tour culminating in a spaghetti-marshmallow tower building contest. The goal was to build the tallest structure! Mitre is a not-for-profit organization chartered to work in the public interest, applying expertise in systems engineering, information technology, operational concepts, and enterprise modernization to address their sponsors' critical needs. The Mitre Student Program provides summer jobs to high school and college students who are mentored by senior Mitre staff in areas such as software engineering, robotics, and nanotechnology. Some students go on

to make their adult careers at Mitre.

At the conclusion of the tour Nina Stokes, project for FESC at HCC-Brandon said “industry tours such as these allow students to experience modern manufacturing in action and raises their awareness of the numerous and varied careers available in the field.” Stokes who accompanied the students on the tour said “these efforts support recruitment to STEM areas including HCC’s A.S. and A.A.S degree in Engineering Technology which is designed to prepare the student for initial employment in high technology industry.”

For more information on FLATE’s state-of-the-art industry tours visit www.madeinflorida.org, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org.

Hillsborough County High School Teachers Get a Taste of 3D Technologies

On January 17, 2012, twenty Hillsborough County high school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) teachers spent a half day at a special FLATE educator workshop at EMS-USA in Tampa. EMS is a leading provider of product design, 3D scanning and rapid prototyping products and services. Their shop is a hub of activity with several engineering and technicians working on a wide array of projects. As the teachers entered an exciting world of 3D technologies, they learned the applications are endless, and crosscut many disciplines ranging from architecture, anthropology art, designer vehicles, to biology, historic restorations, forensics, and medical devices and products. Teachers also got an in-depth overview on a variety of applications, and got a live demonstration of SpaceClaim—a simple 3D design software, that was remotely presented by experts in Boston.

Teachers took away lots of applications of these advanced technologies; great classroom resources to share with their students and most importantly lots of information about exciting STEM careers that they can share with their students. As one social science teacher said, “Wow – everything about this workshop was exciting. It will be great to share the mix of technology with humanities and social sciences with my students.” EMS-USA has a lot of videos and photos of their projects on their website and YouTube channel. Everyone is encouraged to check them out.

A big “thank you” to Mark Kemper, COO, and Eric Wenhem, account & marketing manager, for the presentations and demonstrations. FLATE and EMS–USA will be offering additional workshops for teacher later this year so other teachers can share their fascinating experiences. As Mark Kemper told the group, we need more students to go in to STEM fields and EMS-USA is hiring right now! For more information about the workshop, please contact Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org. For information on EMS-USA visitwww.ems-usa.com.