About the ATE Convergence Labs
Increasing synergies between fields – for example, leveraging IT and GIS for precision agriculture, or embedded smart devices for Manufacturing 4.0 – has become a critical part of the applied STEM and workforce landscape, and ATE has led the way in adapting and expanding technician training to incorporate these new developments. Organized and conducted in collaboration with appropriate ATE centers, the Convergence Labs provide new opportunities for projects and centers to connect with each other and learn about and explore this rapidly-expanding realm. These hands-on labs are held annually at the ATE PI Conference and showcase applied STEM fields that currently have strong and active synergistic connections.
ATE Convergence Lab 2025 - Partner Brief
2025 ATE Convergence Lab Partners
NCNGM
The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (NCNGM)solidifies relationships among educators, industry, government, trade associations, and more to strengthen the advanced manufacturing workforce, in addition to creating educational materials repositories and
providing professional development opportunities.
PI Karen Wosczyna-Birch • NSF Award 2335016
NAAIC
The National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium, or NAAIC, seeks to form a national community and a repository of resources in order to develop skilled and responsible AI technicians.
PI Eduardo Salcedo • NSF Award 2350120
Weld-ED
Weld-Ed works in tandem with business and industry to develop new and improved curricula, which helps to increase the quality, quantity, and availability of welding and other materials joining technicians
PI Monica Pfarr • NSF Award 2436592
NCYTE
The National Cybersecurity Training and Education Center (NCyTE), in partnership with academic, industry, and government stakeholders, develops national strategy and advances cybersecurity workforce education through faculty development, curricula, student support, research, and resource dissemination.
PI Michele Robinson • NSF Award 2054724
InnovATEBIO
The InnovATEBIO National Biotechnology Center advances biotechnology technician education by
providing professional and leadership development for educators, sharing best practices, and enabling colleges and partnerships to shape the future of the biotechnology workforce.
PI Linnea Fletcher • NSF Award 2349809
RECITE
The Resource Collaborative for Immersive Technologies, or RECITE, recognizes the potential of using extended reality (XR) to enhance the educational experience and creates innovative learning ecosystems utilizing this rapidly-growing technology.
PI David Anderson • NSF Award 2534496
Learn More About STEM Convergence
NSF’s 10 Big Ideas
“The grand challenges of today -- protecting human health; understanding the food, energy, water nexus; exploring the universe at all scales -- will not be solved by one discipline alone. They require convergence: the merging of ideas, approaches and technologies from widely diverse fields of knowledge to stimulate innovation and discovery. The National Science Foundation is well positioned to foster convergence: We have deep connections to all fields of S&E and have been supporting interdisciplinary research for decades. Convergence blends scientific disciplines in a coordinated, reciprocal way and fosters the robust collaborations needed for successful inquiry. Convergence builds and supports creative partnerships and the creative thinking needed to address complex problems”.
On the emergence of interdisciplinary scientific fields: (how) does it relate to science convergence?
“Interdisciplinary scientific fields, such as synthetic biology, bioinformatics, and human brain science, often emerge at the intersection of existing scientific disciplines. This fundamental process is described in the literature streams of ‘science convergence’ and the ‘evolution of new scientific fields’. However, despite their empirical relevance and the potential for science convergence to accelerate the evolution of these new fields, the two concepts have been developed separately up to this point. In this study, we therefore investigate the interplay between the two concepts by first conducting a systematic review of the literature on science convergence to examine its underlying dynamics.”
Exploring the research landscape of convergence from a TIM perspective: A review and research agenda
“Convergence at the level of science, technology, market or industry can increasingly be witnessed in a number of empirical settings. It is currently seen as one of the most important influence factors on and trigger for developing innovation strategies. This empirical relevance is mirrored by a surge in publications. Therefore, motivated by a highly dynamic but at the same time rather unstructured body of literature, this review offers a systematic and critical analyses of studies related to Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) research that address convergence from a processual perspective.”