
How Advanced Technological Education (ATE) initiatives positively influence students’ entrée into advanced technology careers was evident at the student poster session at the 2023 ATE Principal Investigators’ Conference on October 25 in Washington, D.C. The annual conference is hosted by the American Association of Community Colleges with support from its ATE grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In their own words on posters and in energetic response to questions posed by conference attendees who viewed the posters during the lively 90-minute session after the opening plenary, the students shared what they had learned as a result of the ATE-grant funded initiatives.
The posters created by 48 students and alumni documented a wide array of learning experiences, including classroom instruction, labs, internships, apprenticeships, undergraduate research projects, and competitions. Here are two of the outstanding projects featured at the poster session.
Team Develops Prototype of Self-Energizing Buoy for Sea Farms
Skylre Hine, a mechanical engineering major at Connecticut State Community College Gateway, was part of a four-person, all-female team that created a buoy that harnesses kinetic energy from water movement and solar energy to power a battery for monitoring equipment used by sea farms.