The American Association of Community Colleges with the support of the National Science Foundation will hold the 25th National ATE Principal Investigators’ Conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. from Oct. 24-26. The annual PI Conference is a great place to network with others in the ATE community and brings together approximately 850 people to focus on the critical issues related to advanced technological education.

Visit the AACC website to register for the conference if you haven't done so already (deadline Sept. 28). 

Stop by booth #2 and say Hi to ATE Central! 

Do you have a great "big idea" the National Science Foundation (NSF) can explore for future research opportunities? If so, considering entering the NSF 2026 Idea Machine Competition!

The NSF 2026 Idea Machine is a competition to help set the U.S. agenda for fundamental research in science and engineering. Participants can earn prizes and receive public recognition by suggesting the pressing research questions that need to be answered in the coming decade, the next set of “Big Ideas” for future investment by the NSF.

Read about the competition by visiting the NSF's Idea Machine page. Entries are accepted from Aug. 31 - Oct. 26, 2018.  

Mentor-Connect is offering Mentor Fellow internships to individuals involved in the Advanced Technological Education program who want to assist two-year college educators while they write their first ATE grant proposals.

Mentor Fellows must have at least three years of experience working with an ATE center or project. In addition they must have implemented at least two ATE projects and have experience with the processes involved in designing projects and writing ATE grant proposals so that they have sufficient background to serve as Mentor-Connect mentors after the one-year internship.

The internship is a part-time commitment for which Mentor Fellows receive a stipend and $1,750 in travel support to attend two Mentor-Connect workshops during 2019.

Mentor Fellow applicants must complete the application form and submit their resumes and at least two letters of recommendation from ATE principal investigators or co-principal investigators who are familiar with their work.

These materials must be emailed to Mentor-Connect@fdtc.edu by 11:59 p.m. EST, September 28, 2018.

NSF 18-571 (Replaces NSF 17-568)

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time):

• October 15, 2018
• October 03, 2019
• October 01, 2020

Some key revisions to take note of as you read this new solicitation include a later submission date this year - giving applicants a bit of extra time to craft their proposal. Changes have been made to the ATE Centers track, including an increase in the maximum budget for a center proposal which has been raised to $7.5 million over five years, with the possibility of one renewal. Centers may then choose to transition to a resource center. Budget numbers for resource centers have also been raised - with the maximum being $1.65 million over three years, also with the possibility of one renewal.

Another shift is a change to the Small Projects New to ATE track – this is now a fourth track within the ATE program with a maximum budget of $300,000 over three years.

Visit NSF’s ATE page (http://nsf.gov/ate) for an overview of the program, links to recent awards, and access to the solicitation, or click here (http://atecentral.net/rfp) to go straight to the solicitation on NSF’s site.

The High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HI-TEC) is right around the corner - July 23-26, 2018 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami! HI-TEC is highly attended by the ATE community and focuses on the preparation needed by the existing workforce for companies in the high-tech sectors that drive our nation's economy. 

HI-TEC provides an opportunity to explore many fields at the intersection of science and technology, including: 

• Advanced Manufacturing Technologies
• Bio and Agricultural Technologies
• Energy and Environmental Technologies
• Engineering Technologies
• Information, Communications and Geospatial Technologies
• Learning, Evaluation, and Research
• Micro and Nanotechnologies
• Security Technologies
• Workforce Diversity

Download this year's conference program here. Stop by and say "hi" to ATE Central at booth 29!