Advanced Technology Education Centers Help Meet Demand for Tech Skills

The bad economy may be drying up many jobs, but industries from agriculture to manufacturing are seeking more technologically savvy workers-and the nation's 36 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) centers are at the forefront in fostering those skills.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded centers are mainly housed at community colleges, but they work closely with universities, government agencies and industries to help meet the growing need for advanced technicians. NSF provides about $51 million annually to support ATE centers and their projects. All of the ATE centers serve as leaders in their fields. Each center pursues a distinct vision of technological education that it carries out in cooperation with two-year and four-year colleges and universities, secondary schools, business, industry, and government. In addition to the centers, the ATE program supports projects that target particular technological education issues.

From coast to coast, there are nearly 300 ATE projects up and running. Eileen Lewis, program director at NSF, said that in keeping with the concept of ATE providing education, "We don't want to just focus on training. We also want students to have 21st century skills." Emerging fields where technicians are especially in demand include anything related to energy, according to Lewis. "Biofuels, alternative energy and incorporating green in other technical areas to make normal processes a little greener have become popular," she said.

(Minnesota Future Work note: Dakota County Technical College a $3 million grant to develop the Midwest Regional Center for Nanotechnology Education, or Nano-Link. Situated on DCTC's Rosemount campus, Nano-Link will work to create a skilled workforce of nanotechnologists to enhance economic growth in nanoscale science and technology. The center builds on the success of DCTC's pioneering Nanoscience Technology program, which was established in partnership with the University of Minnesota to prepare graduates for employment in the abundant array of industries where nanoscience applications are rapidly emerging. More than 30 Minnesota companies participated in the development of the DCTC nanoscience technology curriculum, which will serve as Nano-Link's educational platform. Many of these companies have hired DCTC nanoscience technology graduates in nano-related technician positions. Those same companies report that the need for nanotechnologists far exceeds the numbers the DCTC program can produce.)

Another ATE centers focuses on car manufacturing. Given the hits the auto industry has taken, focusing on manufacturing cars may raise a few eyebrows, but education officials say it's actually a good time to prepare for when the economy recovers and demand will grow again. "We have an industry advisory board and do assessments with managers to figure out critical needs for now and project ahead for the next five years," said Beverly Hilderbrand, director of the Consortium for Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Manufacturing (CARCAM) at Gadsden State Community College in Alabama.

Advanced technology courses within the automotive degree programs are offered at CARCAM's nine partner community colleges across Alabama, which has several Toyota manufacturing facilities. The courses cover factory-floor robotics, programmable controls and other highly automated systems.

In Arizona, the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC) helps meet the need for more highly skilled technicians in the semiconductor, automated manufacturing and electronics fields. Several projects are under the MATEC umbrella including NetWorks, a resource center that offers a digital resource library, Web seminar series, a national conference and a virtual technology education community.

Another project is eSyst, a systems view of electronics and projects designed to reform electronics education by revising the curriculum to shift the focus from a solely task-level focus to a comprehensive understanding of a system. "By using a top down approach, it has been possible to break away from the limitations of the more usual treatment that builds up from basic components but invariably runs out of time before it reaches any interesting applications," said Lara Smith, MATEC project manager.

At City College of San Francisco, the college's computer networking and information technology department is a Cisco Regional Academy and ICONS has been able to build on that. Cisco's Networking Academy has more than 10 years of collaboration with community colleges, enabling them to respond to the need for a skilled workforce in IT and networking, said Bill Sounders, director of public affairs for Cisco. The Networking Academy provides students with the technical skills they need to succeed in a wide range of occupations and the foundation to pursue additional technical education or training in numerous career paths.

Nearly 3 million more skilled networking professional are estimated to be needed globally by the year 2012, said Sounders, citing recent research. "As networks become more ubiquitous and increasingly complex, the requirements for skilled network professionals have rapidly accelerated and evolved," he said.

For more information about ATE centers, visit http://www.atecenters.org

Source: Community College Times, Carisa Chappell, 10/12/09