ATE is Advanced Technological Education. With an emphasis on two-year colleges, the National Science Foundation's ATE program focuses on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy.

Innovate, Educate, Connect: ATE Central’s STEMLink and Resources for Manufacturing Instructors

Webinar

August 26 Online

Join us for the August AMTEC Institute for Industry 4.0 (AI3) Community-of-Practice session! ATE Central will showcase a suite of powerful tools and resources designed to support educators in manufacturing and related STEM fields. This session will highlight STEMLink, a dynamic platform that connects instructors to resources that can be utilized in your classroom. In addition, you will explore ATE Central’s extensive resource library, ATE Impacts success stories, and more to see how to leverage these assets to enhance your classroom.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2350012. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author (s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


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PI-Evaluator Meet & Greet

Meeting

August 27 Online

This event provides a welcoming, interactive space to meet and connect with evaluators qualified to work on your ATE project. You’ll hear brief introductions, join guided discussions to learn about different evaluators’ approaches to evaluation and have the chance to meet with evaluators one-on-one to find the right evaluator to support your proposal.


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Azure AI Infrastructure Workshop

Workshop

September 2 Online

Designed specifically for community college faculty, this hands-on workshop explores the robust capabilities of Microsoft Azure in the field of artificial intelligence. Participants will gain practical experience with Azure's powerful AI tools and services while preparing for the Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals exam.

The workshop covers essential AI and machine learning concepts, guiding attendees through the process of building, training, and deploying models using Azure. Topics include computer vision, natural language processing (NLP), and generative AI, with a focus on real-world applications.

In addition to technical skills, the workshop emphasizes strategies for integrating AI technologies into academic programs, equipping educators to bring cutting-edge tools into the classroom.

Key Features:

  • AI Fundamentals Preparation - Tailored content aligned with the Azure AI Fundamentals certification.
  • Machine Learning Essentials - Develop, train, and deploy ML models in Azure.
  • Specialized AI Domains - Deep dives into computer vision, NLP, and generative AI.
  • Hands-On Experience - Interactive labs and practical exercises.
  • Educational Integration - Guidance for incorporating AI into curriculum and instruction.

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FABTECH 2025

Conference

September 8 Chicago, IL

Join FABTECH 2025, North America’s preeminent event for metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing. Explore the latest technologies, gain hands-on experience, and network with industry leaders and peers who can help take your business or career to the next level.

FABTECH is the only event where you can experience the latest in metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing—all under one roof. Explore 800,000+ sq. ft. of exhibits showcasing cutting-edge manufacturing equipment and advanced solutions to boost productivity. Discover industry innovations, connect with experts, and gain the tools to stay ahead in a competitive market.


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The Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Forum

Summit

September 11 Hartford, CT

Every seat in this room will matter. Make sure one of them is yours.

Join business leaders, decision-makers, and innovators at the Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Forum for a full day of insights, strategy, and forward-thinking solutions built for the industry's next chapter! 
 


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Implications of Artificial Intelligence for Educators

Workshop

September 12 Bossier City, LA

This workshop empowers university, community college, and high school faculty, staff, counselors, and academic advisors with the knowledge and tools to effectively integrate AI into their teaching practices and curriculum development. Participants will explore practical applications of AI, including lesson planning, designing engaging and interactive content, creating dynamic assessments, and customizing individualized student learning experiences. Additionally, the workshop will highlight how to enable students to use AI in ethical and productive ways across various disciplines.

Through hands-on activities, collaborative projects, and real-world examples, faculty will gain a deeper understanding of AI’s transformative role in education. They will also explore new forms of student engagement, ensuring responsible AI use in both teaching and learning environments. This workshop prepares educators to harness AI to enhance classroom instruction, streamline administrative tasks, and equip students with the skills needed to navigate an AI-driven future.


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Community Conversation: Effective Data Management in ATE Projects

Meeting

September 16 Online

ATE PIs, project evaluators, and staff will explore best practices for managing data throughout the lifecycle of an ATE project. Participants will discuss strategies for organizing, analyzing, and sharing project data, as well as tools and systems that can help streamline the process.


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AACC Advocates in Action 2025

Meeting

September 16 Washington, DC

The American Association of Community Colleges Advocates in Action is a 2-day program designed for community college leaders who want an insiders view on how Washington formulates higher education policy and who want to become more involved in the federal legislative process. Interactive sessions with key executive branch officials and senior Congressional staff will provide valuable insights about the current dynamics and issues surrounding key funding and other pending legislation. Time is reserved for attendees to meet with their federal legislators to advocate for community college priorities.

Community college presidents, trustees, government relations directors, and other campus administrators are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to network, discuss key policy issues, and advocate for critical federal programs.


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NCATC Conference

Conference

September 17 Tucson, AZ

The National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC) is an Affiliated Council of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) catalyzing a network of higher education and industry-led Strategic Partner resources that advocates, advises, and promotes the use of advanced technology applications to enhance economic and workforce development programs and services.

With over 160 members from community and technical colleges, universities, CTE high schools, adult education organizations and the corporate community, NCATC provides great networking opportunities at both their Summer Workshop and Fall Conference every year.


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Implications of Artificial Intelligence for Educators

Workshop

September 17 Seattle, WA

This workshop empowers university, community college, and high school faculty, staff, counselors, and academic advisors with the knowledge and tools to effectively integrate AI into their teaching practices and curriculum development. Participants will explore practical applications of AI, including lesson planning, designing engaging and interactive content, creating dynamic assessments, and customizing individualized student learning experiences. Additionally, the workshop will highlight how to enable students to use AI in ethical and productive ways across various disciplines.

Through hands-on activities, collaborative projects, and real-world examples, faculty will gain a deeper understanding of AI’s transformative role in education. They will also explore new forms of student engagement, ensuring responsible AI use in both teaching and learning environments. This workshop prepares educators to harness AI to enhance classroom instruction, streamline administrative tasks, and equip students with the skills needed to navigate an AI-driven future.


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AWS Skill Builder: Info Session

Webinar

September 18 Online

AWS Academy is providing faculty and students from its member institutions with a free subscription to AWS Skill Builder, empowering them to learn foundational and specialized AI content. AWS Skill Builder offers hundreds of free digital courses tailored to roles across the technology spectrum, including immersive experiences such as AWS Cloud Quest and AWS SimuLearn, as well as test prep and vouchers for AWS Certifications like AWS AI Practitioner.

This info session, led by AWS Academy, will provide community colleges with an overview of Skill Builder and how to leverage the free 1-year subscription. Participants will receive a step-by-step guide on how to provide access to their students to over 600 digital courses, exam prep resources, and certification vouchers. The session will end with a Q&A.


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NCyTE Monthly Meeting

Meeting

September 19 Online

Education, Certifications, and Experience: How Does the Modern Workforce Survive 

This presentation explores the zero-sum dynamic between formal education, industry certifications, and real-world experience. The presentation highlights how competing demands create falsified talent shortages and misaligned hiring practices while proposing a balanced approach to harmonize these pillars. Attendees will gain insights into the challenges of this conflict and learn strategies to foster collaboration and standardization, addressing the need for a more effective and inclusive approach to hiring.

Presenter

Paul Ruffalo is a dedicated son, uncle, husband, father, and community advocate whose professional journey reflects the same commitment he brings to his personal life. With over 25 years of experience spanning technology, cybersecurity, compliance, and auditing, Paul currently serves as the Head of Internal Audit at Collins Community Credit Union and teaches Cybersecurity and Compliance at Kirkwood Community College. His diverse background includes vCISO advisory work, podcasting, nonprofit leadership, and recognition as an award-winning Agentic AI designer.

Please register to attend.


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Girls In Aviation Day At Flying Cloud Airport

Student Event

September 20 Eden Prairie, MN

Bring your family, friends, troop, and group to learn more about STEM and aviation careers, including pilots, mechanics, and more. Pilots, aircraft, local companies, aviation schools, and many professionals will be on hand to discuss careers in aviation and STEM to help inspire future generations to follow their own dreams into a future in aviation. Representatives from commercial aviation, the US Military, corporate/business aviation, general aviation, Collegiate, UAV, and MORE will attend this event to meet with you.

Hands-on educational activities will be demonstrated in The Discovery Hangar to help attendees learn about the principles of aviation and STEM.


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ATE Projects and Centers





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Mfg

Advanced Manufacturing Technologies topics include:

  • Additive manufacturing
  • Automotive manufacturing
  • General manufacturing
Ag/Env

Agricultural and Environmental Technologies topics include:

  • Agriculture and aquaculture
  • Environmental technologies
  • Natural resources
  • Nuclear power
  • Solar energy
  • Wind power
Bio/Chem

Bio and Chemical Technologies topics include:

  • Biotechnology
  • Chemical and process technologies
Eng

Engineering Technologies topics include:

  • Electronics and controls
  • General engineering
  • Marine technologies
  • Materials technologies
  • Optics
  • Space technologies
Gen

General Advanced Technological Education topics include:

  • Evaluation
  • Learning research
  • Recruitment
  • Teacher preparation
Info

Information and Security Technologies topics include:

  • Geospatial technologies
  • Information and communications technologies
  • Logistics
  • Security, information assurance, and forensics
Nano

Micro and Nanotechnologies topics include:

  • MEMS
  • Microsystems
  • Semiconductors
 

Program Description:

The Commercial Building Energy Analysis and Audits program at City College of San Francisco prepares students to conduct energy audits, evaluate building systems for efficiency, analyze energy data, and apply financial and business strategies in audit reporting. The program is divided into 15 modular courses designed for a community college level student. These courses are adaptable and can be selected, reorganized, or offered in a shorter format to suit individuals with experience in construction, architecture, HVAC, building operations, or mechanical engineering.

Course Description:

This course, from the BEST Center and City College of San Francisco, teaches the fundamentals and concepts of HVAC with an emphasis on types of equipment and conveyance. Topics covered in this course include conversion of units; concept of work power, and energy; psychrometric processes and calculations; thermodynamic laws and heat transfer principles; sensible and latent heat...


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Presented by the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, this two-part laboratory activity was designed to complement any chemistry unit on catalysts to "help students understand how nanoparticles may be more effective catalysts by investigating how the surface area-to-volume ratio of a substance is affected as its shape changes." On this site, educators can find both the teacher and student instructions for preparing and presenting the laboratory with objectives, time periods, materials, procedures, example answers, and much more. This ready-to-use lesson is intended to help students understand catalysts and surface to volume ratio at molecular and atomic levels.


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This 7-page resource, published by the American Samoa Technician Education Readiness Pathway Project (ASTERP), is a lesson plan for a 6-week robotic arm building activity. Students "will create their own hydraulically powered robot arms for this assignment to transport marshmallows." The lesson plan includes instructions, a lesson timeline, materials and facilities needed, resources for building the robot arm, and learning objectives/lesson outcomes. Throughout the activity, students will:

  • Learn the about the Engineering Design Process
  • Participate in a team-based learning experience
  • Learn about hydraulics and hydraulic systems
  • Have fun experiencing engineering

Additional lesson plans from ASTERP are available separately.


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This 80-page report provides an extensive overview of the Envisioning the Next Bioscience Workforce summit held by InnovATEBIO on the 26th and 27th of June, 2023. The summit gathered "attendees from education, industry, workforce development and government gathered for two days to learn about emerging trends and technologies in the biosciences and to convene within 'state teams' to develop action plans for strengthening the bioscience workforce ecosystem in their state." The report begins with a summary of the summit and a discussion of its conclusions and strategies developed for building statewide bioscience workforce ecosystems. Then, the report goes into the findings of each panel/mini-panel discussion and covers the "state teams" model for collaboration in promoting the biotechnology workforce. The report includes the following sections:

  • Executive Summary
  • Industry/Education Presentations and Panels
  • Bioscience Workforce Ecosystem Panels
  • Building the Bioscience Workforce of...

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This 172-page resource was developed as a reference guide for the IT Skill Standards 2020 and Beyond project grant, explaining in step-by-step detail how to collaborate with employers to develop future-facing technical skill standards and then use that work to align curriculum to workforce needs. This guide also provides a hard copy of the final version "products" the grant created (KSA+Ts - knowledge, skills, abilities, and tasks, key performance indicators, employability skills, student learning outcomes, and degree expectations).

A companion report on the impacts and outcomes of the ITSS project is available to view separately.


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Active ATE Centers 19
Active ATE Projects 286
ATE Resources 6,917
   
New Projects/Centers 85
New Resources 95

ATE Resources by Subject Area

ATE Events by Subject Area

 
Upcoming event flyer for FABTECH 2025 in Chicago, IL Septmeber 8-11

Upcoming Event: FABTECH 2025


This year's FABTECH will be held September 8 to September 11, 2025, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Named as North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing event, FABTECH 2025 offers attendees the opportunity to explore cutting-edge technologies, network with leaders in industry, and engage with innovative solutions for quality and productivity.

The event features keynote speakers, panel discussions, and breakout groups to collaborate and share insights, strategies, and trends in the field of manufacturing. Conference sessions and half-day workshops will be led by industry experts, with topics on leadership, workforce development, stamping, welding, automation, smart fabrication, and more. To support young professionals, FABTECH will also be offering an Emerging Leaders Program, a half-day event on September 9 designed to foster confidence, deliver valuable insights, promote networking, and provide the tools necessary for successful leadership.

Register by September 5, 2025, for free show floor admission. Visit FABTECH 2025's website to learn more about or to register for the event.


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Image of computer screen with video conference and EvaluATE's webpage

Upcoming Event: PI-Evaluator Meet and Greet


EvaluATE, the evaluation resource center for NSF's ATE program, will be hosting an upcoming PI-Evaluator Meet and Greet on Wednesday, August 27th, from 2:00-3:15PM EST. This virtual event offer a collaborative way to connect with potential evaluators for your ATE project or center, facilitating valuable partnerships and connections. During the Meet and Greet, attendees will discuss the various approaches for evaluation and have the opportunity for one-on-one sessions with available evaluators, with the goal of finding the best fit to meet your specific proposal needs.

To register for the PI-Evaluator Meet and Greet on August 27th or to learn more about the event, visit EvaluATE's website.


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Image of NSF logo

NSF Announces $25.5 Million Investment in Manufacturing Research & Workforce Development


The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently announced a $25.5 million investment in manufacturing technologies, research, and workforce pipelines. As part of the NSF Future Manufacturing Program, awards will fund nine seed projects and seven research grants across the nation.

Focus areas for investments include cyber manufacturing, bio manufacturing, and quantum manufacturing. NSF's Future Manufacturing Program underscores the importance of collaboration and interdisciplinary teamwork to propel innovation, address gaps in technologies and workforce pipelines, and strengthen the U.S. presence as a leader in manufacturing. 

Visit NSF's website to read more about its recent awards.


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Image of a computer with the Student Success Report on it

New Research: Student Success Impact Report


A recent report has been released by Civitas Learning, a company that provides higher ed institutions with data-driven insights to improve student outcomes. Exploring the top initiatives fostering learner achievement, the 2025 Student Success Impact Report discusses the role of personalized support, retention, resources, and sense of belonging. It dives into longitudinal findings, comparing 2021-2023 with 2021-2024 in an analysis of over 50 institutions and 5 million students. According to the report, current top initiatives with the highest impact include academic planning, in-person library resources, and advising appointments. It also notes a main takeaway from trend and data analysis: students desire support beyond the classroom, with personalized guidance and connection.

To read the free 2025 Student Success Impact Report and explore its insights, trends, and strategic recommendations, visit Civitas Learning's website.


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