Successfully diversifying STEM education requires a deep understanding of the lived experiences of underrepresented students as they navigate systems that were often not created with them in mind. Numbers only tell part of the story of the challenges these students face while pursuing higher education and thus hold a limited understanding of the solution to diversifying STEM education.

This webinar focuses on how inclusive qualitative data gathering methods can honor the complexity of the challenges in diversifying the STEM workforce. Webinar participants will better understand the power that qualitative insights hold in identifying challenges in access to quality education, patterns in utilization of services, and potential solutions that students self-formulate to navigate educational environments. These insights can then be harnessed to create more equitable learning environments where underrepresented students can thrive. Participants will learn to identify opportunities when qualitative evaluation can be advantageous in promoting the success of underrepresented students in STEM education.

Presented by EvaluATE.

Has your college been an ATE grantee? Did you have a New-to-ATE grant? Keep the momentum going! Take advantage of what ATE funding can do for your college's technician education programs and students by "Moving Up” with additional ATE funding. A checklist will be provided along with tips for what will make your proposal more competitive, how requirements and reviewer expectations change when you take the next step, and where you can get help to make your proposal more viable. This session offers strategies, insider tips, and mistakes to avoid in seeking your next ATE grant . . . and gets you started! 

To establish a successful working relationship with your mentor-manager, it's important to assess and understand key factors including their priorities, goals and workstyles as well as your own. In this interactive session, presents will discuss best practices using real-life examples and explore how good intentions without proactive communication strategies can lead to misunderstandings in the workplace. You will learn what to pay attention to from the start, tangible actions you should take, and how to measure the success of your working relationship with your mentor-manager in order to set yourself up for success.

Workshop participants will come away with strategies to:

• Clarify and assess you and your mentor-manager’s goals, priorities, and values.
• Assess your workstyle and that of your mentor-manager (and other colleagues)
• Scope your situation: Utilize an investigative (proactive) approach to assess the 4 key factors in your workplace: the work, your boss, the team, and the organization

In response to community requests, InnovATEBIO will be holding a series of community meetings organized by topic. All meetings will be Fridays from 12:30-2:00 pm Eastern time. Join InnovATEBIO on Friday, Feb 23rd to talk about Increasing Work-Based Learning Opportunities

Join this webcast from CCPI-STEM to learn more about NSF ATE Labor and it's Economic Impact!

As technical educators, we all understand how internship opportunities can be a pivotal part of any technical education program.  But sometimes establishing and implementing Internships for students can be daunting.  Please join us for the next Energy Educator Coffee Hour and share your experience (or lack thereof) with providing internship opportunities to your students. Success stories, lessons learned, best-practice ideas, or general questions are all welcome.

From small performances to large commencement ceremonies, and all the guest lectures and hackathons in-between, higher education institutions strive to ensure events held on campus are accessible to anyone who wants to attend. However, coordinating among the multiple entities responsible for putting on events and determining who should be responsible for the various aspects can be challenging. This webinar will address multiple aspects of event access, including communication needs, physical spaces, digital mediums, and more. Focus will be placed on reducing the institution's reliance on the disability professionals to create access, and will provide actionable tools and processes for other campus entities to increase their comfort and ability to create events with meaningful access for all attendees, no matter their disabilities.

The National Electric Vehicle Consortium (NEVC), funded by the National Science Foundation, promotes the interaction of a critical mass of academic, agency, and industry experts across all EV disciplines to help secure the nation's EV workforce pipeline. 

1. Share best practices (curriculum, recruitment, certifications, resources and more) across all EV sectors.
2. Discuss gaps and funding opportunities to address those gaps.
3. Identify opportunities for tours, presentations, and partnerships.
4. Support the development of an entry level attainable industry recognized certification across all EV sectors.

Global Mapper Pro offers numerous advanced geospatial tools, explicitly focusing on lidar and point cloud management and analysis. In this session, explore the latest additions to Global Mapper Pro version 25.1, which complements the core functionality of the standard version.

The Community College Innovation Challenge is led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF). It is a national competition where community college student teams, working with a faculty or administrator mentor, use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to innovate solutions to real-world problems; receive full travel support to attend an Innovation Boot Camp held in Washington, D.C.; and compete for cash awards of up to $3,000 per team member. Up to 12 finalist teams will be selected to attend the Innovation Boot Camp and receive coaching designed to build strategic communication and entrepreneurial skills. Finalist teams also participate in a Student Innovation Session and engagement opportunity with STEM leaders and Congressional stakeholders, and a pitch presentation in front of a panel of industry professionals. Join AACC, a CCIC judge, and a student finalist team member from the 2023 competition to learn about the CCIC, why you should apply, and how to do so by the April 2 deadline.

This hands-on workshop will introduce faculty to an entry level Mechatronics course (Concepts of Electronics) taught to high school students at a distance in Nebraska and Minnesota. It is the first of 4 courses being designed to deliver to high school students. Attendees will learn best practices for delivering technical course work online, assemble a trainer and perform lab exercises designed for high school students.

All participants will take their finished trainer (valued over $300) home and be asked to create a lab with the trainer to share with other workshop attendees and the iMEC community. A bill of materials and curriculum will also be made available. Teams of a high school instructor and State/community college faculty are encouraged to attend as a team. The workshop is FREE, lunch will be provided, and attendees will take their trainer home to use in their own classrooms. 

Workshop Topics:

• Overview of the iMEC projects
• Dual enrollment strategies
• Share good practices working with high schools
• Building trainers from components
• Review web curriculum
• Labs and videos
• Complete the trainer

Meeting or exceeding expectations is a defining metric of success in the workplace. There are multitudes of expectations, many of which often go unsaid. How do you clarify what is expected of you and obtain regular actionable feedback so that you can progress steadily towards those expectations? In this session presenters will outline tools you can use to define the many expectations inherent in any work situation, assess for gaps in your knowledge and build the language to ask for and obtain the information and feedback you need to succeed.

Workshop participants will come away with tools to:

• Assess what expectations have been made clear, and which still need further clarity.
• Identify gaps in expectations, how you’ll be evaluated, assessed and trained.
• Language to obtain expectation clarity and actionable feedback.
• Proactively manage-up to promote actions that support your success

In response to community requests, InnovATEBIO will be holding a series of community meetings organized by topic. All meetings will be Fridays from 12:30-2:00 pm Eastern time. Join InnovATEBIO on Friday, Mar 1st to talk about Diversity, Engagement & Recruitment Strategies

BIOTECH Pathways is holding it's annual Teaching Academy with three half-day workshops taking place on March 2nd, April 6th, and May 4th! Participants may attend one, two, or all three workshops. RSVP by: FEB 21 for all events

Are you a high school life science educator interested in integrating biotechnology content and laboratory skills that align with curriculum standards? Then the BIOTECH Pathways Teaching Academy is the professional development series is for you! 

These half-day workshops are held at Harford Community College and include laboratory activities and discussion about implementation strategies that best fit participants’ classes. Participants will receive a $200 stipend for each half-day workshop they attend. 

In these free hands-on, interactive workshops, attendees will learn how to develop and leverage a future-facing set of skill standards for any technical discipline.

Travel expenses will be reimbursed via a stipend. Participating schools must send at least two people: one faculty member and one administrator.

"ITSS Summit" attendees will...

• Understand the elements of the BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team) Model and the skill standards development cycle
• Discuss strategies for recruiting subject matter experts
• Practice preparing and hosting SME meetings to prioritize in-demand job skills and KPIs
• Convert the job skills into student learning outcomes
• Workshop implementing the skill standard materials into curriculum
• Develop mentored “action plans” for next steps

Designed for high school students and families, these workshops are held throughout the year and provide those interested in biotech an opportunity to explore the career path. The 2024 workshops will be taking place at multiple high schools in Maryland! 

2024 WORKSHOPS
MAR 4  |  6—7:30 PM  |  Havre de Grace High School
MAR 6  |  6—7:30 PM  |  Joppatowne High School
MAR 7  |  6—7:30 PM  |  North Harford High School
MAR 11  |  6—7:30 PM  |  Aberdeen High School
MAR 13  |  6—7:30 PM  |  Edgewood High School 

Join in this summit to explore how technology solutions are addressing some of the most significant challenges facing agriculture today – and learn about what is on the horizon. One of the premier AgTech hubs in the nation, Champaign-Urbana is uniquely positioned to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and industry for learning, networking and advancing this sector.

This interactive conference offers participants the opportunity to learn and share knowledge about the current state of agtech and looking into the future through dynamic panels, inspiring keynote presentations, and networking opportunities. This event is free thanks to the generous sponsors.

The ITEEA Annual conference is an unparalleled professional learning opportunity for technology, engineering, and STEM educators featuring dozens of special interest sessions, ITEEA’s renowned STEM Showcase, and exciting social and networking events.

While feedback is a valuable tool for guiding professional development, its full potential is often untapped. Learn to transform feedback into actionable, practical and impactful development strategies by adopting a shared competency language with your teammates and to create a focused learning roadmap during your internship.

Welcome to the InnovATEBIO 2024 series of virtual ATE project talks.  This series features leaders in biotechnology workforce education from across the US sharing their work on exciting projects funded by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.  The ATE program supports the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy.

Each talk will be 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes for questions and discussion.

Talk 1:  Bio Blend 1.0: Using Self-Assessment to Stay on Track

Description: Bio Blend 1.0 Project Team and Evaluators, Cosgrove and Associates, will share grant background information and a self-assessment tool created by the Cosgrove’s to monitor grant progress and evaluate: partnerships, activities, challenges, actions taken to address challenges and outcomes.

Talk 2:  Social Dogs

Description: This project will create a mobile version of DNA Subway.

The National Cybersecurity Training and Education Center (NCyTE) and the Washington State Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCoE) are funding a limited number of $600 scholarships for one of the following virtual workshops to eligible community college faculty as part of their mission to support cybersecurity instruction and to encourage faculty who want to teach cybersecurity.

They will offer 3 different workshops that run on Saturday mornings from March 9 - April 6, 2024 for 2 hours each from 8-10AM PST. The topics include:

• CCNAv7: Switching, Routing, and Wireless Essentials (SRWE)
• CCNP Advanced Routing and Services [ENARSI]
• Cyber Security Operations Associate

A limited number of scholarships are available. Applicants will be placed on a waitlist after the workshop is full. Complete the registration and scholarship application by February 25, 2024.  Applicants will be notified of their approval status via email.

Join your global developer community at the Esri Developer Summit—an event designed to show you how to build cutting-edge apps using advanced mapping technology. Explore hundreds of hours of technical workshops and sessions and learn development best practices from GIS experts.

Join the Clemson University Center for Workforce Development and Trident Technical College as they discuss a new electric vehicle maintenance and manufacturing curriculum that can be used in technological education beginning in Fall 2024. The webinar will provide an overview of the curriculum and how to deploy it within the existing automotive and mechatronics courses. Participants will also learn about industry involvement as subject matter experts in this content and the future of EVs in the Southeast.

This conference is designed for educators at all levels, but others are welcomed to register for the event.

Day 1 - March 14th

• Keynote Speaker: Nicole Bonk-Skydio Director of Flight Testing
• Morning Presentations: ESRI-Skydio
• Afternoon Workshops include: Drone2Map, Pix-4D Cloud, Drone Deploy, Flight Demos, and Flight Experience

Day 2 - March 15th

• Keynote Speaker: TBD
• Presentations and Workshops include: Emergency Response (Fire and Police), Utilities- (TBD), Transportation- (TBD), Agriculture- (TBD), and Drone Delivery (TBD)

Corporate Participants:

• Esri Drone2Map Team
• Skydio Team

The 2024 Nebraska Research and Innovation Conference — Diamond Quantum Sensing: Challenges and Opportunities — will take place Thursday, March 14, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Lincoln. This all-day meeting includes invited speakers and poster sessions with student and post-doctoral researchers from Nebraska’ EQUATE project. The cost to attend this event is free, however pre-registration is required.

A career conversation with your mentor-manager is essentially a negotiation. It's a time to discuss your career path, what types of support your mentor-manager is willing and able to offer, and the level of productivity they'll need to see to continue to support you.

Using best practices from Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Stone, Patton, Heen and Fisher), participants will go through the steps of preparing for a negotiation (including identifying conversational goals and concerns about the conversation, assessing their research mentor's position and preferences, etc.), brainstorm different conversational tactics for each stage of a negotiation (including opening the conversation, negotiating different issues, coming to agreement and ending a conversation) and consider steps post-conversation.

Workshop participants will come away with strategies to:

• Identify the steps to prepare for a career conversation
• Consider how your mentor-manager would prefer to have this conversation
• Develop talking points to keep the conversation on track
• Discuss how to open, have and exit the conversation
• Identify strategies if a conversation becomes contentious
• Describe next steps post-conversation(s)

Join KidWind for a three-hour virtual workshop to explore the science of the power grid!

During this virtual workshop, educators will learn the foundations of energy and the how the power grid works. This workshop will discuss the history of the power grid and the role of different forms of power in producing energy, as well as the consequences for the future of energy generation in the U.S. It will also introduce activities for the classroom that engage students in dynamic, hands-on energy-based learning.

All teachers who pre-register will receive a $100 kit before the 3 hour virtual training and will go through how to use these materials in the classroom. This workshop has self guided and in-person components.

Some things to know:

• This workshop and the materials used are geared towards middle school and high school teachers.
• No prior knowledge of hydropower is required.
• You will need a stable internet connection and dedicated space in which to work.
• You will need access to a sink to do some basic hydropower experiments.
• KidWind will ship you a box of material 4-7 days before the workshop.
• Preservice and retired teachers are welcome!

Use discount code CREATEWK2024 to reduce the registration cost to $10. Register by March 6th to receive materials prior to the workshop.

The Innovations Conference, now in its 27th year, is the foremost convening for professionals dedicated to improving and enhancing teaching and learning, leadership and management, and the community college experience. This international event provides a forum for collaboration among academic experts and thought leaders, while granting participants exclusive access to the most inventive and inspirational community college programs from around the world.

Conference Tracks:

• Leadership and Organization
• Learning and Teaching
• Student Support and Development
• Workforce Preparation and Development

MEEd THEME: Emerging Trends and Technologies in Mechanical Engineering
The ASME Mechanical Engineering Education Summit (MEEd), which launched in 1989, is the only conference specifically for mechanical engineering and related Chairs/Deans/Department Heads and other leaders that address issues affecting the current and future state of engineering education.

The Robotics for Inspection & Maintenance Summit (RFIM) is back March 19-21, 2024, at the PRCI Technology Development Center in Houston, TX, the energy capital of the world! Don't miss this opportunity to experience live demonstrations of the latest in robotics equipment and join in dynamic conversations driving the future of robotics forward. The RFIM Summit is also an opportunity to network and make meaningful connections with industry leaders, equipment manufacturers, influencers, practitioners, and the sharpest minds in the industry.

ASME's RFIM Summit brings together a cross-industry community of asset owners, robotic inspection service providers, robotic maintenance providers, robotic and drone OEMs, sensor OEMs, and data analytic/software providers. Experts involved in all facets of the robotics industry will share valuable insights on the latest robotic and data analytics technologies to help businesses optimize inspection, maintenance, and repair while improving safety and lowering costs.