About the ATE ProgramNSF logo

The U.S. National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has been funding innovation at two-year colleges for over thirty years. With a focus on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy, and strong partnerships between academic institutions and industry, ATE promotes improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels. The ATE program supports curriculum development; professional development of college faculty and secondary school teachers; career pathways to two-year colleges from secondary schools and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions; and other activities.

The ATE program supports proposals in a variety of tracks including Projects, Centers, and Targeted Research in Technician Education. For more information about the ATE program, please visit the resources listed below:

  • The ATE home page on the National Science Foundation site provides an overview of the ATE program, contact information for the associated program officers, and examples of recent awards.
  • The ATE solicitation provides detailed information about the program and outlines key concerns of the funding agency, budgetary guidelines, and programmatic requirements.

Fields of technology supported by the ATE program include, but are not limited to, advanced manufacturing technologies, agricultural and bio-technologies, energy and environmental technologies, engineering technologies, information technologies, micro- and nano-technologies, security technologies, and learning, evaluation, and research.

 

About ATE CentralATE Central logo

ATE Central is dedicated to supporting and highlighting the work of the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) projects and centers. These U.S. National Science Foundation-funded initiatives, primarily based at two-year colleges, develop and implement ideas to improve the skills of technicians and the educators who teach them. ATE Central helps educators, students, and the general public learn about, and use materials from, the entire depth and breadth of the Advanced Technological Education program.

ATE Central helps direct users to a full range of high-impact ATE resources available online, including curricula, learning objects, podcasts, videos, and more. The portal also aggregates information about the materials developed by ATE centers and projects, and organizes them using subject taxonomies, context appropriate keywords, and other digital cataloging techniques. Click here to learn what ATE Central can do for you!

ATE Central is funded by the National Science Foundation under DUE#2228120. Any opinions, findings, 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.

ATE Central Tools & Services

ATE Central acts as an information hub for the National Science Foundation ATE grantee community, providing an online portal of resources that help showcase the full range of valuable curriculum, professional development materials, videos, and learning objects created through the ATE program.  We also provide a range of tools and services, designed with community input, that support and amplify the work of the ATE community.  

ATE 101

Receiving an NSF grant is exciting, but it all of the requirements can feel daunting. ATE Central's ATE 101 pages provide grantees with resources as well as guidance through each step and condition expected of projects and centers. This includes information about deliverables, outreach, evaluation, partners, and tools and technology.

 

Activity ReportsATE Activity Report screencap

Quarterly Activity Reports gather quantitative data from the ATE Central portal about resource usage, provide ATE PIs and staff with a picture of the overall impact of their individual resources, and aggregate resource usage for the community. An annual Activity Report is provided each January.

 

 

 

 

 

Archiving ServiceATE Archive logo

The ATE Central archiving service aims to help with the long-term preservation of deliverables for the ATE community.  Now a requirement for ATE projects and centers, archiving with ATE Central helps ensure the valuable work done by project and center staff is accessible after funding sunsets.

 

 

 

ATE Central ConnectionATE Central Connection screencap

The ATE Central Connection (ACC) is an electronic publication distributed to the ATE community on the first Monday of each month.  The ACC contains information about upcoming events, news, and reminders of interest to ATE project and center PIs and staff; highlights an ATE project or center of note; and features ATE resources around a specific topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluator DirectoryATE Evaluators map screencap

The Evaluator Directory is an interactive map that shows the individuals or organizations who have done or are currently doing evaluation work for ATE projects or centers. Please note that it is not a verification or endorsement of the qualifications of those listed, and does not represent all available evaluation options for ATE-funded work. When selecting an evaluator for your project or center, please make sure they are suitable to perform the evaluation work required.

 

 

 

ATE Events Calendar

ATE Central brings together event information from all ATE projects and centers and aggregates that information into a single calendar.  The Events Calendar includes events sponsored and attended by members of the community, as well as outside conferences and webinars that pertain to advanced technological education in general. 

 

ATE Impacts Blog

NSF's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has grown and deepened its influence on postsecondary and secondary education during its twenty-five-plus year tenure. The ATE Impacts book and ATE Impacts blog are intended to inform educators, college administrators, industry partners, students and parents about ATE's important work preparing technicians for employment in advanced technology fields, as well as improving the skills of educators who teach aspiring and incumbent technicians. Key audiences for the project also include elected officials, community college presidents, business and industry leaders, and ATE principal investigators.

In conjunction with the book, the ATE Impacts blog provides original content for key audiences, using the Internet and social media to support the rts of centers and projects to improve technician education and encourage participation in technical careers. Center and project PIs are encouraged to use the content from the blog on their own sites and as a jumping off point for blog posts, webinars, recruitment, and professional development activities.

 

ATE Impacts BookATE Impacts logo

Dissemination of the ATE Impacts book will advance understanding of the importance of technicians to the vitality of high-tech industries that drive the economy. By highlighting the successful, innovative work of ATE centers and projects, the book will encourage broader participation in the ATE program by academic institutions, educators, and industry partners.

 

Microsite Servicewebsite construction graphic

Having a website can be a critical tool in supporting outreach efforts and connecting with your audience and collaborators. But development and maintenance of a website is time consuming, and establishing a web presence to showcase progress, events, and deliverables while staying within budget and on schedule can be difficult. And even if your center or project budget includes the resources to develop a website, it can take months to get a site up and running, during which time other project elements may suffer from having no online presence.

ATE Central’s Microsite Service helps address these issues through a tool that allows ATE projects and centers to very quickly and easily create their own mini website, and use that site to share documents, publish curriculum materials, announce events and publications, and disseminate the products and progress of their grant.

 

ATE Office HoursATE Office Hours sign

ATE Office Hours provides a venue where those of us in the ATE community can communicate and learn from each other, discover collaborators, and find solutions for the challenges we all face in our project and center work.  Each interactive group video conference is limited to 50 participants (ATE grantees), and once you sign up you'll get a confirmation email which includes the video conference link.

If you are affiliated with a currently-funded ATE project or center and would like to be invited to upcoming ATE Office Hours events, please send us an email with your name and grant number.

 

Outreach Kit

The ATE Outreach Kit is an online workbook designed to help ATE community members develop an outreach plan for their projects and centers.  By taking users through a series of steps (identifying core messages, defining target audiences, establishing a promotion timeframe, etc.) the kit provides step-by-step instruction to help with planning and management.

 

ATE PI Conference AppATE PI Conference logo

The ATE PI Conference app helps attendees organize conference information, allowing them to create personal agendas and to keep track of the sessions and showcases they wish to attend. In addition, the app will help attendees manage the valuable contacts they make at the conference—all conveniently from a mobile device.

 

ATE Resource Collection

The ATE Central resource collection and archive contain curriculum, professional development materials, videos and other valuable resources created and collected by the ATE community. Browse the resource collection using the categories provided, or search for ATE resources via the box at upper right.

 

Social Media Directorysocial media icons

The ATE Social Media Directory is an index of ATE centers and projects that are using social media, along with some ATE partners and collaborators, so that you can easily find them for best practices, professional development, and staying in touch with the ATE community.

 

Student Success StoriesStudent Success story card

ATE Student Success Story Videos highlight the struggles and triumphs of a diverse set of students in community college settings. With support and guidance from ATE centers and projects, their lives and careers have been changed for the better. Each video documents a unique success story, but all of them have a common theme: technician training has the power to change lives.