The American Association of Community Colleges, with the support of the National Science Foundation, holds the annual ATE Principal Investigators Conference in Washington, DC. The conference brings together approximately 850 people to focus on the critical issues related to advanced technological education. Key people working on ATE projects across the country participate in the conference. Conference attendees represent community colleges, business and industry, secondary school systems, four-year colleges, and research and development centers covering projects in a wide variety of areas such as information technology, engineering technology, micro- and nanotechnologies, chemical technology, and biotechnology.