The purpose of the Utilities and Energy Coordination Network grant is to create a platform for industry, higher education institutions, and other stakeholders to share resources and collaborate to expand training opportunities, create new programs, and develop curriculum for high-demand energy-related roles across the nation.
The needs of industry outweigh the ability of a single entity to fill the workforce pipeline. The energy industry is experiencing workforce shortages and skills gaps in key engineering and technical areas due to an aging workforce, changing technologies, and fewer qualified, younger candidates. Furthermore, qualified workers are increasingly choosing to work closer to their hometowns, limiting the ability to fill positions across a wider geography.
Matching industry partners to community colleges with expertise to train future technicians will be critical to addressing pipeline shortages. These partnerships will help industry gain access to qualified graduates who want to work close to home. Higher education institutions will benefit from industry partners who can provide input and feedback into program competencies and access to resources such as equipment, tools, and field experiences.
The Network will provide a platform to cultivate and generate partnerships across the nation that can expand training opportunities in:
~ Gas Utility and Construction
~ Electrical Power Distribution
~ Solar Energy
~ Energy Management
~ Telecommunication Technology
~ Energy Apprenticeships
The National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has been funding innovation at two-year colleges for over twenty years. With a focus on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy, and strong partnerships between academic institutions and industry, ATE promotes improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels.
To learn more about ATE, please visit the NSF ATE program home page.
