The NSF Florida Advanced Technological Education (FLATE) Center is a state wide ATE Regional Center for Manufacturing Education. Goals for the 3 year renewal period are to (a) identify and secure state and/or other funds for operations; (b) implement a statewide unified education system that positions manufacturing education as a convergent curriculum to optimize technician preparation in manufacturing and its enabling technologies; (c) provide an effective outreach platform for Florida's high schools, community colleges, industry, and legislature to access information related to the requirements for and impact of manufacturing education; and, (d) present professional development opportunities for technical faculty to develop, refine, or certify their knowledge base within manufacturing and/or its related enabling technologies and educational pedagogies.
Intellectual Merit: Outreach projects are having a systemic impact on manufacturing and its enabling technology education by merging educational content into the "Made in Florida" awareness campaign and connecting classroom activities directly with instructional visits to actual manufacturing facilities. Curriculum projects have a systemic impact on manufacturing education by implementing an articulation pathway that allows high school students to transfer 15 credit hours toward the A.S. Degree. They provide clear statewide defined skill sets as a reference for prospective students of the expectations of prospective employers. The curriculum aligns manufacturing and engineering technology degrees to the changing needs of industry and provides a viable statewide mechanism for industry feedback on the impact of A.S. degrees. FLATE is also providing professional development opportunities for faculty responsible for manufacturing education in secondary, post secondary, and community college environments; integrating Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC) skills into high school and community college curriculum; and increasing the statewide impact of the Florida Technology Forum by providing industry focused short courses for technology faculty.
Broader Impact: FLATE is poised to demonstrate transportable models that (1) help Florida's Department of Education filter its total set of technical course, certificate, and degree program frameworks; (2) encourage first time college and minority students to continue post secondary education by streamlining student access to manufacturing and related degrees; (3) institutionalize a platform for best practice curriculum dissemination; (4) increase the number of teachers and students that are MSSC nationally certified; (5) increase the awareness in all parts of the state that manufacturing careers represent a critical need in Florida; (6) establish a statewide collaborative "manufacturing community" that partners industry, government, and academic entities; (7) provide the public with easy access to technical education information to support new Florida mandated career exploration middle school curriculum component; (8) increase the number of faculty that can integrate the teaching of industry mandated soft skills into their current curriculum; (9) align Florida's manufacturing related technical degrees to industries' changing needs; (10) demonstrate an effective curriculum management plan for Florida's other AS/AAS degrees; (11) support projects that multiple industry partners can financially support because they are recognized as industry-focused mutually beneficial activities; (12) partner industry directly with educational institutions in their region; and (13) make manufacturers statewide aware of the benefits of interacting with students during "Made in Florida" supported factory tours.
The Engineering Technology (ET) Degree Program FLATE, the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center, www.fl-ate.org represents NSF-ATE as an ATE Regional Center of Excellence for advanced technological education that supports manufacturing and its related technology sectors. FLATE worked in partnership with the Florida Department of Education, Workforce Florida, and Florida’s manufacturers statewide to reconstruct the Engineering Technology (ET) A.S. degree program, integrating the national Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) certification as an articulated component of the A.S. ET degree, and providing 15 college credit hours for all holders of a current MSSC credential. FLATE works proactively to maintain the integrity of the alignment of the curriculum to the MSSC external standard in partnership with the FLDOE and Florida’s manufacturers. The new ET degree has been well received by Florida’s state and community colleges, with 14 of the 28 colleges adopting the program. As well, enrollment has grown from 145 to 703 over the course of four years, currently outpacing growth based on percent change in enrollment in related technology programs. FLATE continues to support new engineering technology college and high school programs aligned with MSSC in a variety of ways wherever there is a need to strengthen and secure individual programs at local institutions throughout the state. This includes equipment grants to colleges to support the ET Core and paying for MSSC testing for both college and high school students; identifying curriculum gaps and providing professional development for teachers to fill those gaps; assistance with programmatic updates and implementation of new courses or specializations; assistance with outreach and recruitment of students; and outreach to local businesses. This comprehensive, full-service support system helps to ensure that the academic programs remain robust into the future. Partnerships with Industry FLATE’s focus on partnership building between schools and industry partners helps to build the student pipeline for advanced technology college and careers. FLATE worked directly with the then fledgling Manufacturers Association of Florida to craft their education mission to include support of a strong integrated K-14 manufacturing focused education system including its support for the now well established CAPE (Career and Professional Education) academy structure in the Florida public school system, as well as support and affirmation of the MSSC credential’s value. A 6-year partnership with the Manufacturer’s Association of Florida and industry partners to place a promotional advertorial in NEXT, the career guidance issue of Florida Trend Magazine, reached a total of 22,651 responding students, with FLATE providing students with collateral materials promoting a positive awareness of advanced manufacturing college and careers and providing guidance about the educational choices needed to obtain these careers. That 70% of the interest responses were from female students encouraged FLATE to provide more opportunities to engage girls, along with their teachers, in STEM awareness activities and events. Partnerships with industry continue to build, providing a growing number of tours to high tech industries. FLATE’s "Made in Florida" Tours to advanced manufacturing facilities have grown to include "Industry Days" and a variety of tour models, providing over 100 tours to over 2,000 students over the last 5 years. Educating Educators: Professional Development FLATE professional development workshops provide STEM educators with technical training to develop, refine, and/or certify their knowledge base within manufacturing and/or its enabling technologies. FLATE’s research has noted the lack of curriculum available in K-12 for technology and engineering curriculum (the "T & E" side of sTEm), and has provided free, online curriculum to help educators fill this gap. FLATE’s curriculum wiki http://madeinflorida.org/educators/ is located on FLATE’s signature "Made in Florida" website. FLATE’s identification of similar gaps in professional development for teachers and the fact that teacher engagement is critical to building an effective college and career pipeline, has led FLATE to offer an increasing number of opportunities where educators can add to their technical toolkit. Evaluation & Collaboration FLATE has embraced the Baldrige Sterling evaluation model widely accepted by business and industry to help maintain high levels of quality, continuous improvement, and excellence as a "one-stop-shop" for building the pipeline for the manufacturing workforce. FLATE is included in many NSF-ATE partnership project proposals and as a sub-awardee for leadership or expert consultation. From an international perspective, FLATE’s Iberian partnership for Technician Excellence provided ET faculty and their students with the opportunity to expand their expertise and keep current with international innovation and advances in manufacturing technology in Spain. In the USA, FLATE’s leadership with NSF ATE Joint Center Exhibits (ATE-JCE) for the past five years has strengthened ATE Center dissemination, program visibility, and collaboration among Centers to promote the NSF-ATE mission and maximize impact. FLATE is a resource impacting not only Florida students, educators, and the advanced manufacturing workforce; FLATE collaborates with other ATE Centers and colleges nationwide, expanding its community of practice and growing the influence of NSF-ATE products, expertise, and services.
