ATE 101: Finding Partners and Collaborators
A key task of any project or center is to harness the skills and capabilities of others by creating partnerships among organizations and people. Partnerships and collaborations take many forms, and can complement a project in many ways, from outreach support to facilities sharing to boosting dissemination efforts. Collaborating with other organizations that have expertise can help you save time and money, avoid reinventing the wheel, and spend your resources more effectively. ATE Central offers a number of ways in which you can find potential partners and collaborators.
ATE Central Tip: Visit the ATE Central map to see other ATE initiatives near you or projects or centers focused in your same field.
Types of Partnerships and Collaborations
Throughout the ATE program, there are many different types of partnerships. Community colleges partner with a variety of groups to create robust projects with promising sustainability plans. Possible partners or collaborators to consider include:
- Other ATE projects and centers
- Other NSF programs, such as TUES or ITEST
- Industry
- High schools
- Universities and four-year colleges
- Community organizations
- Professional societies
- Economic development boards
- Government groups
- Non-profit organizations
ATE Central Map of Projects and Centers
The ATE Central portal offers a map interface that pinpoints the geographic locations of all project and centers. Grantees can use this map to find other ATE initiatives near them as well as information about those initiatives including a description of the project or center, PI contact information, discipline, award number, funding dates, and much more. The ATE Central Map is a customizable map of all the active initiatives. Buttons along the top allow you to filter the results to see only active, inactive, or new initiatives, or toggle between centers and projects (or view them both). Along the bottom, you will find buttons for the seven general disciplines of the ATE program: Agricultural and Environmental, Engineering, Information and Security, Advanced Manufacturing, Bio and Chemical, General Advanced Technological Education, and Micro and Nanotechnologies. Clicking these allows you view initiatives that focus on these disciplines. You may zoom in and out and clicking on the map points allows you to see more detailed information about each initiative. You can also switch to simply viewing a list of project or center titles by clicking the “List” link next to each discipline
ATE Central Publications and Events
ATE Central publishes the ATE Central Connection, a monthly newsletter sent to all PIs that disseminates information to and about ATE centers and projects. The newsletter provides up-to-date ATE news, events, features, outreach tips, and reminders. Additionally, ATE Central maintains an extensive calendar that includes events sponsored by ATE projects and centers as well as events relevant to advanced technological education in general. On this calendar, you can find webinars, workshops, and conferences that will help you build a network of partners and collaborators throughout NSF and beyond. To ensure your event shows up on the calendar and in the ATE Central Connection, use the ATE Central events submission form.
If you have questions about how the ATE Central site works or ideas for how to make it more useful, please don’t hesitate to send them to info@atecentral.net.