Advanced Technological Education .

Welcome to the ATE Central Connection! Published the first Tuesday of each month, the ATE Central Connection is meant to disseminate information to and about ATE centers and projects, providing you with up-to-date ATE news, events, reminders, as well as highlighting new centers, projects, and resources. In addition, we will also highlight an educational topic with complementary resources found within ATE Central to help illustrate how ATE resources can be used in the classroom.

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In This Issue

Featured Resources: General Advanced Technological Education

From Mentor-Connect :

Creating an Abstract

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dvs77CM9VU

In this video from Mentor-Connect, Pamela Silvers explores ATE grant reward abstracts. Information on where to include abstracts, what abstracts are, who creates an abstract, who is the audience for an abstract, and what to include in an abstract is highlighted. Examples and samples are provided. The video recording runs 5:44 minutes in length.

From Mentor-Connect:

Coffee Break - Conducting Research on ATE projects

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Frtz1tJsgE

During this video, Beth Hawthorne discusses researching National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) funded projects and centers. Hawthorne demonstrates a simple search technique on the NSF website to find ATE-funded projects and show advanced search strategies. Hawthorne, an NSF ATE Grantee, shares a method of narrowing down searches using keywords, refining by states, and sorting by start dates. The importance of finding resource centers like the National Cyberwatch Center and the Innovate ATE BIO National Biotech Education Center is emphasized. The goal is to provide helpful techniques for proposal preparation, encouraging viewers to explore further resources in the Mentor-Connect library and suggesting future topic ideas for coffee breaks.

From Broadening Institutional Participation in the NSF Advanced Technological Education Program:

Navigating Research.gov to Prepare an NSF ATE Proposal

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XBz-XcTmCA

This webinar, published by Project Vision, explores how administrators and educators can navigate Research.gov to prepare National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) proposals. In the video, Dave Brown describes the login process, the organization of proposal contents, the creation of a proposal cover page, an example of uploading a required document, the entering in of budget and budget justification information, how principal investigators (PI) can reassign a proposal to another PI, how one returns to work on a proposal, and the process for submitting a complete proposal. The video recording runs 36:12 minutes in length.

Community Connection

Maximizing Your Conference Impact with Greg Kepner

Boost your project or center’s outreach and networking opportunities at conferences with insights from Greg Kepner, Co-PI at the ATE-funded Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC). With over 30 years of experience at Indian Hills Community College, Greg shares strategies to enhance booth setups, promotional materials, and engagement tactics.

Key Takeaways:

  • Eye-Catching Booths: Greg stresses the importance of captivating visuals and practical giveaways like pens and USB drives to draw attendees to your booth.
  • Impactful Handouts: To leave a lasting impression, offer booklets and brochures addressing attendees' interests, especially focusing on ATE grant opportunities and resources like the ATE Impacts book.
  • Invest in a Dedicated Booth: Greg believes that a dedicated booth is essential for exposure and networking, especially at conferences with educator attendees keen on program improvement and funding.

Read the full interview on the ATE Impacts blog post and don’t miss out on applying these effective strategies at upcoming conferences, including HI-TEC 2024 in Kansas City from July 29-August 1st. Learn more about HI-TEC on their website and make your conference presence impactful!

ATE Success Tips: Social Media

Updating Your Social Media Analytics

Heard of Google Analytics 4 (GA4)? It's the new version of Google Analytics taking over for the older version of Google Analytics, called Universal Analytics. For those of you keeping an eye on social media metrics, tracking social data in GA4 can be a bit trickier.

If you're new to Google Analytics or setting up a new property, Hootsuite has a comprehensive guide with steps to create a tracking ID. Once you get a GA4 ID up and running, you'll be ready to switch when Universal Analytics eventually discontinues in July 2024.

It’s essential to set aside time every month to check in on your social media goals. Analytics offer a wealth of information, but these data are useless if you never apply the insights. Let the findings guide your project or center’s social media strategy. Think about when and how often your organization posts, the design and qualitative aspects of that content, your outreach team’s engagement, and audience expansion strategies, and even initiatives like conversion rate optimization. Read more about tracking and analytics in ATE Central’s Outreach Kit.

Did You Know?

Indiana has one of the lowest success rates in the country for community college students transitioning to four-year institutions, with fewer than one in 10 students achieving this goal. While community colleges serve as an essential gateway to higher education, educating about 40% of undergraduates nationally and catering to diverse student populations, many students encounter barriers when transferring to four-year institutions. These barriers include credit transfer issues and insufficient advising and support. In response to the low transfer success rates, Indiana has implemented policy changes to facilitate smoother transitions for community college students, such as creating transfer pathways and partnerships between Ivy Tech and four-year universities like Indiana University. Despite these efforts, Indiana awaits new data to assess the effectiveness of its initiatives in improving transfer and completion rates for community college students.

Select STEM Education Resources

A few online STEM resources from outside of ATE, that you may find of interest:

Consortium for Scientific Assistance to Watersheds

www.c-saw.info

"The goal for C-SAW is to transfer knowledge and skills to watershed groups or local sponsors thereby helping to build their capacity to plan and conduct watershed assessments and conduct post-implementation monitoring." Users can learn about the technical assistance provided by C-SAW, including watershed specific assistance, mentoring, and water quality education available to eligible groups in the state of Pennsylvania. Visitors can find the necessary materials to apply for this opportunity. The website also offers links to the program's many partners and other watershed resources and assistance.

American Medical Association: Journal of Ethics

journalofethics.ama-assn.org/home

Medical ethics may not get the press that other areas of medicine do, but ethical dilemmas come up in many aspects of healthcare. The Virtual Mentor website is the virtual home of the ethics journal of the American Medical Association. It aims to assist physicians and physicians-in-training in the types of challenges they might encounter in their training and daily practice, and each monthly issue is written around a theme. One of the recent themes includes "Time and Resource Constraints in the Emergency Room". There is a podcast on "The Massachusetts Ban on Ambulance Diversion", and an "Ethics Poll" that allows visitors to give their opinion on emergency room overcrowding, disaster assistance by physicians, and when a test of a patient's decision-making capacity (DMC) is appropriate. The results of the poll can be viewed to see where others stand on these vital issues. There are also sections of the journal that address "Law, Policy and Society", "History, Art and Narrative", and "Educating for Professionalism".

Grant Proposal Writing: University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries

researchguides.library.wisc.edu/proposalwriting/websites

Anyone who has written a grant proposal knows how challenging it can be to craft a strong and persuasive proposal, especially for those new to the endeavor. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries has compiled this resource list to help anyone applying for a grant understand what funders look for in grant proposals and how to best meet these expectations. Here, visitors can find links to websites that provide tips for writing a mission statement, a glossary of key vocabulary terms that are frequently used in grant applications, examples of grant narrative and budgets, and online courses dedicated to grant writing. These resources are sorted into common types of grant applications: government funding, non-government funding, and research grants, so that visitors can quickly identify resources most relevant to them. In addition to these websites, the UW-Madison Library provides visitors with book suggestions and materials from the library's workshop on grant funding.

Do you have some great STEM resources you'd like to share with ATE Central? Email us with your ideas at info@atecentral.net.

ATE Events

Upcoming Events
– Nano 2024 NACK Hands-on-Site Workshops University Park, PA
– Info Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) Online
Gen Webinar: Preparing Forms for Your NSF ATE Proposal Online
– Info 2024 National 3CS and Southeast Regional 3CS (SE3CS) Tampa, FL
Bio/Chem Program Development, Articulations, Policy & Advocacy Online
– Nano Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC) Albany, NY
Bio/Chem BioMADE Mentee Information Session Online
– Ag/Env BETO BRIDGES Professional Development Instructor Workshop Lemont, IL
– Bio/Chem Summer of Nanopore Sequencing 2024 - Spelman College Atlanta, GA
Info WWCode CONNECT 2024: Thrive in Tech Online
Bio/Chem BioMADE Mentee Information Session Online
– Info Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Online
Gen How to Produce a Livestreaming Event (that is Accessible, Green, and Open Source) Online
Bio/Chem BioMADE Mentorship Program Information Session Online
Gen Webinar: NSF ATE Proposal Budget and Budget Justification Online
– Gen NISOD 2024 International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence Austin, TX
– Nano 2024 IEEE 74th Electronic Components and Technology Conference Aurora, CO
– Bio/Chem Summer of Nanopore Sequencing 2024 - Arecibo C3 STEM Center Arecibo, PR
– Info NICE Conference Dallas, TX
– Bio/Chem BIO International Convention San Diego, CA
– Eng GRRATE Summer Institute - Archer Archer, FL
– Gen 2024 PTI Conference Portland, ME
– Nano University of Minnesota: Micro and Nanotechnology Health & Safety Workshop 2024 Minneapolis, MN
– Gen Mentor Up Workshop Online
Gen Maker Faire NoVa Alexandria, VA
– Eng 2024 Energy Drone & Robotics Summit The Woodlands, TX
– Bio/Chem Summer of Nanopore Sequencing 2024 - Skyline College San Bruno, CA
– Info GenCyber: Appalachian Solutions Teacher Academy Prestonsburg, KY
– Mfg Summer Teacher Institute Tampa, FL
– Mfg Mechatronics Professional Development #1 - Concepts of Electronics Columbus, NE
– Info GeoEd'24 Louisville, KY
– Ag/Env VESTA National Summit 2024 Knoxville, TN
– Mfg "Girls Can, Too!" Summer Day-Camp Georgetown, KY
– Mfg Fundamentals of Metallurgy, GMA Processes, & Welder Certification East Peoria, IL
– Mfg Fundamentals of Metallurgy, SMA Processes, Inspection, & Codes Wahpeton, ND
– Info CyAD Conference: Cybersecurity Across Disciplines Palos Hills, IL
– Nano 2024 NACK Hands-on-Site Workshops Williamsville, NY
– Mfg Mechatronics Professional Development #2 - Intro to Instrumentation Columbus, NE
– Bio/Chem Summer of Nanopore Sequencing 2024 - DNA Learning Center NYC at City Tech Brooklyn, NY
– Eng Northwestern Michigan College ROV and Sonar Workshop Traverse City, MI
– Gen Power of Us Camp Durham, NC
– Eng GRRATE Summer Institute - Downtown Gainesville Gainesville, FL
– Info ITSS Summit - Alexandria, VA Alexandria, VA
– Bio/Chem Summer of Nanopore Sequencing 2024 - University of Hawaii at Mānoa Honolulu, HI
– Mfg Fundamentals of Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Santa Clarita, CA
– Eng MATE ROV World Championship Kingsport, TN
– Bio/Chem Summer of Nanopore Sequencing 2024 - Granite Technical Institute South Salt Lake, UT
– Mfg Mechatronics Professional Development #3 - Intro to PLC's Columbus, NE
– Eng 2024 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Portland, OR
– Bio/Chem Summer of Nanopore Sequencing 2024 - James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA
– Info Security+ Online
– Eng GRRATE Summer Institute - Starke Starke, FL
– Info Summer 2024 Bootcamp: The Convergence of AI & XR – Leveraging emerging technologies in the classroom St Cloud, MN
– Bio/Chem The All of Us Research Hub Summer Institute Salt Lake City, UT
– Mfg Mechatronics Professional Development #4 - Application of Industrial Sensors Coumbus, NE
– Info Implications of Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity Educators Online
– Info Whatcom Community College Gencyber Camp Bellingham, WA
– Mfg Weld-Ed Summer Training - Fundamentals of GMAW Waveforms, Visual Inspection, and Ultrasonic Testing Williamsport, PA
– Mfg Weld-Ed Summer Training - Fundamentals of Welding Metallurgy - Aluminum & Welding Robotics - Cobots Ogden, UT
– Ag/Env 48th ASEV-Eastern Section Annual Meeting Cleveland, OH
– Ag/Env 2024 STEM Solar Institute Madison, WI
– Eng ASE Instructor Training Conference Minneapolis, MN
– Info Microsoft Azure Open AI Fundamentals Online
– Eng GRRATE Summer Institute - Alachua Alachua, FL
– Eng GRRATE Summer Institute - Keystone Heights Keystone Heights, FL
– Ag/Env Summer 2024 STEM Educator Energy Institute Pittsboro, NC
– Mfg Weld-Ed Summer Training - Surface Inspection NonDestructive Testing Chattanooga, TN
– Eng Battery Electric Vehicle Sumer Institute Dayton, OH
– Ag/Env Summer 2024 STEM Solar Plus Storage Institute Madison, WI
– Gen HI-TEC 2024 Kansas City, MO
– Bio/Chem BIOTECH Pathways: Summer Institute Bel Air, MD

For more events, please visit the ATE Central Events page or, if you have any upcoming events that you would like posted on ATE Central or in the ATE Central Connection, please submit them online.

News & Reminders

ATE Central LinkedIn Page

Introducing ATE Central's official LinkedIn page! ATE Central amplifies the impactful work of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education community. The ATE community is dedicated to elevating the skills of technicians and their educators and ATE Central’s LinkedIn page provides a gateway to the full spectrum of the ATE achievements. Follow the LinkedIn page to stay updated, access valuable resources and events, and connect with like-minded professionals shaping the future of technological education.

Upcoming Event: Marine Technology Field training course

Northwestern Michigan College is holding a Marine Technology Field training course that consists of hands-on experience using multiple marine technologies. From June 16th-21st, participants will be able to spend time on research vessels and join in on various subsea investigations. Participants will examine multiple shipwrecks and ecosystems in the Grand Traverse Bay area. Register for the workshop on Northwest Michigan College’s website.

ATE Impacts 2024-2025 Book Promotes Technical Education and Celebrates 30 Years

The ATE Impacts 2024-2025 book showcases the work of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Community. This edition includes a foreword from National Science Foundation Director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, and features the work of 24 centers and 35 projects across the seven ATE areas, as well as applied research. By highlighting the ATE community's successful and innovative work, the book encourages broader participation in the ATE program by academic institutions, educators, and industry partners. Dissemination of the ATE Impacts book advances understanding of the importance of technician education and its role in supporting the high-tech industries that drive the United States' economy More information on the book can be found on the ATE Impacts website.

Second Annual Cybersecurity Across Disciplines (CyAD) Conference

The second annual Cybersecurity Across Disciplines (CyAD) Conference is set to take place in-person at Moraine Valley Community College on June 12-13, 2024.

This event invites community college faculty members, industry representatives, and educators from diverse disciplines to come together and delve into the critical intersections of cybersecurity. Whether you're from the manufacturing, healthcare, retail, engineering, or banking and finance sectors, this conference offers invaluable opportunities to expand your cybersecurity knowledge, integrate it into your curriculum, and collaborate on innovative approaches to cybersecurity education. With interactive presentations, hands-on workshops, and ample networking opportunities, the CyAD conference is designed to equip you with practical tools and insights, regardless of your prior cybersecurity experience.

Register online on the NCyTE website.

ATE Central Outreach Kit

The ATE Central Outreach Kit was developed as a tool to assist ATE Principal Investigators (PIs) and staff in effectively planning, monitoring, and executing outreach activities.

ATE Central has given the Outreach Kit a refresh with a new design and content, accompanied by a downloadable Template. The new kit is designed to guide you through a step-by-step process and helps you explore how to identify your primary audiences and stakeholders, determine the partners and resources that can support your efforts, and start considering aspects such as branding and messaging.

By utilizing the kit and template, you will make significant progress towards developing a comprehensive plan that enables you to achieve the objectives of your grant, effectively communicate your outcomes and impacts, and showcase the valuable work of your project or center to a diverse range of stakeholders.

The Outreach Kit can be found on ATE Central's website, under the Resources tab.

New Tool - Calendar Feed

The ATE Central Calendar Feed is an easy to customize tool that enables calendar feeds from the ATE Central Events Calendar to quickly be added to either the Outlook or the Mac Calendar app, and will then automatically display upcoming events of interest based on the keywords you include. You can use the feed to populate your personal calendar or to add lists of upcoming events to your ATE center or project website. For WordPress-based sites, free plugins like ICS Calendar will allow you to use a calendar feed to display a list of upcoming events on your WordPress site. You'll need to sign in to your ATE Central account to create a feed - and it's easy to change your selection of keywords to add or subtract areas of interest over time. We look forward to hearing from you as you utilize this new service and as always, we'd love to get your feedback or comments. Don't hesitate to reach out to the team with any questions at info@atecentral.net.

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