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ATE Centers (Image 11)
Engineering technicians use programmable logic controllers to monitor manufacturing processes. The South Carolina Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence is dedicated to expanding excellence in technician education and increasing the quantity, quality and diversity of engineering technology graduates to support business and industry, and to encourage continued economic development. [Image 11 of 12 related images. See Image 12.] (Date of Image: 2009)
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The South Carolina Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence (SC-ATE) National Resource Center for Engineering Technology (ET) Education serves as a central resource for the two-year college ET community. The SC ATE National Resource Center provides a one-stop shopping website for accessing best practices and exemplary materials for the recruitment and retention of students, as well as for teaching engineering technology. In addition, SC ATE provides resources for potential and current engineering technology students, and for businesses and industries who hire associate degree engineering technology graduates.
An integrated, problem-based curriculum, collaborative teaching strategies and extensive active learning techniques, together with faculty and student teams, form the cornerstone of the center's successful strategy. These tools are a nationally-acclaimed model for recruiting, retaining and graduating more students in engineering technology programs. The center is funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education program and by the Florence-Darlington Technical College in Florence, S.C., in partnership with Piedmont Technical College in Greenwood, S.C. To learn more, visit the center's website Here.
NSF's ATE program supports efforts to improve the knowledge and skills of technicians who work in high-technology fields that drive the nation's economy. The program focuses on undergraduates, secondary school students and incumbent technicians, as well as on the educators who teach them. Community colleges are the main providers of education for technicians and have leadership roles in all ATE initiatives, working closely with industry, government and educators in other sectors to enhance the skills of the men and women who are essential to the vitality of the nation's economy. ATE partnerships help create new curricula; reform existing programs; enrich the technical knowledge of experienced college faculty members and teachers; prepare prospective educators with solid foundations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and undertake applied research in technological education. Further information on NSF's ATE program is available Here.
Credit: Photo from ATE Centers Impact 2008-2010 (www.atecenters.org)
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