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Like most members of the ATE community, ATE Central is excitedly preparing for the 22nd National ATE Principal Investigator’s Conference that will be held at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C., October 21-23. Through presentations, roundtables, panels, showcase sessions, and more, the Conference agenda is dedicated to helping attendees stay informed and knowledgeable about community goings-on over the past year, and providing space for project and center representatives to mingle, collaborate, and learn from one another. This year’s theme is “Preparing the Technical Workforce Through Innovation, Creativity, and Practice” and is sure to get your creative and intellectual juices flowing.

Here are a few highlights for this year’s Conference:

International Year of Light

2015 has been recognized as the International Year of Light, a global initiative adopted by the United Nations to raise awareness of the many ways optical technologies impact the world today. The 2015 PI Conference has embraced this initiative by creating a special Attendee Networking Lounge and Photo Display celebrating the theme in the Executive room across from registration. Readers especially interested in photonics education will enjoy this article from photonics.com, highlighting the various career placements of recently graduated photonics technicians, including graduates from ATE’s National Center for Optics and Photonics Education (OP-TEC).

Pre-Conference Workshops

Five pre-conference workshops will be offered this year on Wednesday, October 21st, from 1:00 – 5:00 pm. The topics of these workshops range from the methods of evidence-based learning practices (Workshop B) to recruitment and retention efforts (Workshop C). This last topic has received quite a bit of media traction over the past year, with contributions and insight from members of our very own ATE community, such as this article featuring an interview with IWITT’s executive director, Donna Milgram. If you’re new to the ATE community you won’t want to miss Workshop A – which is the Getting Started Workshop and provides a great overview of everything ATE - including budgeting, evaluation and much more.

Keynote Speakers

Keynote addresses from both Ainissa G. Ramirez and Andre W. Thornton are among the highlights of this year’s conference. Both speakers will address creative and engaging ways to increase interest in STEM, a necessary step to help develop the next generation of technical leaders. As the senior manager for technical leadership programs and STEM at Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems and Global Solutions, Thornton’s address may be of particular interest to members of the ATE community involved with Project Lead The Way (PLTW).

Showcase Sessions

Always ranked highest in the post-conference survey, the showcase sessions provide a great way to learn more about what your fellow grantees are accomplishing. It is also a great place to share your deliverables, activities, and impacts with the rest of the community. Each session is designed to highlight different grantee efforts:

• The Centers Showcase will be held on Wednesday, October 21st from 7:30 to 9:45pm and will feature ATE regional and national centers. 
• The ATE Project showcase will be split between two difference sessions, the first of which will be held on Thursday, October 22nd from 12:00 to 2:15pm, and the second will be held on Friday, October 23rd from 10:00am  to 12:15pm. 

ATE Central’s booth will be open during all showcase sessions– we’re in booth #2 so please by and visit!

We hope this post has provided you with a starting point for your 2015 PI Conference schedule, and we look forward to seeing you in DC!