The Florida Advanced Technology Education (FL-ATE) Regional Center for Manufacturing is creating a state-wide educational resource for manufacturing-related curriculum, content and activities. The Center includes a statewide educational delivery system that contains curriculum, content, and technical programs to support high performance manufacturing within the region. It is doing so by adapting material already developed elsewhere, or by creating needed region-specific manufacturing curriculum, content, activities and services that do not currently exist. In addition, the Center is creating a Manufacturing Education Awareness System (MEAS) that promotes manufacturing careers, honors outstanding manufacturing education champions and educators, and fosters industry supported academic scholarships in manufacturing education. The Center supports a faculty development program that updates faculty technical and educational skills to correspond to best practices for modern high performance manufacturing in the State. The overall aim is to create an exciting manufacturing and technology educational environment for the region
Intellectual Merit The Florida Advanced Technology Educational Center serves as a curriculum content resource for high performance manufacturing training and education for all community college, manufacturing, and technology related educational programs and institutions within the State. It facilitates adoption and adaptation of NSF-ATE's National Center for Manufacturing Education's curriculum content. It is developing a manufacturing educational community that meets the high performance needs of the State's industry. It is developing a Linked Distance Learning curriculum system that provides fundamental improvement to teaching and learning by use of state-of-the-art instructional technology. It is encouraging best practices, projects, and programs based on regional needs as determined by state or regional financial support and clear articulation of the need by partners and affiliates.
Broader Impact FL-ATE activities impact technical education across the State of Florida. It is developing best practice demonstration projects and centers with industry. It is developing a unifying model for manufacturing education through out the State. It is providing productive interaction models with Hispanic and African-American communities. It is producing a unified manufacturing academic community that is a timely, effective, and comprehensive technician training resource for the region's manufacturing companies. It will, by year 3, include, as partners, all of the community colleges, high schools and technical schools with manufacturing and related technology programs within the State. It will impact, by year 4, at least 2,000 technology- focused students per year.
