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Do you have a great "big idea" the National Science Foundation (NSF) can explore for future research opportunities? If so, considering entering the NSF 2026 Idea Machine Competition!

The NSF 2026 Idea Machine is a competition to help set the U.S. agenda for fundamental research in science and engineering. Participants can earn prizes and receive public recognition by suggesting the pressing research questions that need to be answered in the coming decade, the next set of “Big Ideas” for future investment by the NSF.

Read about the competition by visiting the NSF's Idea Machine page. Entries are accepted from Aug. 31 - Oct. 26, 2018.  

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Mentor-Connect is offering Mentor Fellow internships to individuals involved in the Advanced Technological Education program who want to assist two-year college educators while they write their first ATE grant proposals.

Mentor Fellows must have at least three years of experience working with an ATE center or project. In addition they must have implemented at least two ATE projects and have experience with the processes involved in designing projects and writing ATE grant proposals so that they have sufficient background to serve as Mentor-Connect mentors after the one-year internship.

The internship is a part-time commitment for which Mentor Fellows receive a stipend and $1,750 in travel support to attend two Mentor-Connect workshops during 2019.

Mentor Fellow applicants must complete the application form and submit their resumes and at least two letters of recommendation from ATE principal investigators or co-principal investigators who are familiar with their work.

These materials must be emailed to Mentor-Connect@fdtc.edu by 11:59 p.m. EST, September 28, 2018.

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NSF 18-571 (Replaces NSF 17-568)

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter's local time):

• October 15, 2018
• October 03, 2019
• October 01, 2020

Some key revisions to take note of as you read this new solicitation include a later submission date this year - giving applicants a bit of extra time to craft their proposal. Changes have been made to the ATE Centers track, including an increase in the maximum budget for a center proposal which has been raised to $7.5 million over five years, with the possibility of one renewal. Centers may then choose to transition to a resource center. Budget numbers for resource centers have also been raised - with the maximum being $1.65 million over three years, also with the possibility of one renewal.

Another shift is a change to the Small Projects New to ATE track – this is now a fourth track within the ATE program with a maximum budget of $300,000 over three years.

Visit NSF’s ATE page (http://nsf.gov/ate) for an overview of the program, links to recent awards, and access to the solicitation, or click here (http://atecentral.net/rfp) to go straight to the solicitation on NSF’s site.

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The High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HI-TEC) is right around the corner - July 23-26, 2018 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami! HI-TEC is highly attended by the ATE community and focuses on the preparation needed by the existing workforce for companies in the high-tech sectors that drive our nation's economy. 

HI-TEC provides an opportunity to explore many fields at the intersection of science and technology, including: 

• Advanced Manufacturing Technologies
• Bio and Agricultural Technologies
• Energy and Environmental Technologies
• Engineering Technologies
• Information, Communications and Geospatial Technologies
• Learning, Evaluation, and Research
• Micro and Nanotechnologies
• Security Technologies
• Workforce Diversity

Download this year's conference program here. Stop by and say "hi" to ATE Central at booth 29!

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Community College Week and the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) have announced the winners of the annual Scott Wright Student Essay Contest, and winners were recently honored at the NISOD annual conference in Austin, Texas.

The award is named for a former editor at Community College Week, Scott Wright, who is a highly regarded and award-winning journalist. Students who entered the contest were asked to write about a faculty member, staff member, or administrator who made an impact on their education.

The three winning students and the three employees featured in the essays each received an award of $1,000, plus recognition at the NISOD conference. Additionally, each student’s college received a complimentary 2018-2019 NISOD membership.

To read more about the winners and to see the winning essays, read the full the story on Community College Week’s website.

Visit NISOD's announcement of the essay winners. 

Photo from NISOD.com. Featured are Teela Foxworth, Communication Studies Instructor; Sofia Velasquez Student, Portland Community College; Dr. Edward Leach, Director, NISOD .

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From May 14 - 21, more than 200 federally funded STEM projects will share short videos detailing how their work is helping to further research in the STEM fields.

This online showcase will include videos that discuss:

• Broadening participation & access to high-quality STEM experiences
• Innovative practices transforming education
• Partnerships that advance education
• Research informing STEM learning and teaching

For more information and to view the announcement in full, visit the Video Hall .

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Please join presenters Kendra Bouda and Rachael Bower on May 15, 2018, at 1 pm EDT for this free webinar on archiving with ATE Central. The presenters will share tips on organizing your materials for archiving, using the archive submission form, and tracking your submissions online.

See what happens with your submissions behind the scenes, as ATE Central staff process your materials, add metadata, and make your resources discoverable to the ATE community and beyond. You will also learn how to find curriculum and other content that ATE grantees have created and shared for you to adapt and use for your own purposes.

Please visit the registration page to sign up

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From Sunday, June 3 through Wednesday, June 6, Ashland University will be hosting a grant writing workshop for two-year college faculty members. The workshop will focus on how to effectively apply for Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grants and will include presentations, planning and writing sessions, and time to network with colleagues from institutions around the US.

Full-time faculty members in STEM disciplines are available to apply. Travel costs are available for this workshop. Please visit Ashland University's website for a full description and registration instructions. 

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Students at Tri-C ’s additive manufacturing program worked directly with disabled veterans to create assistive devices during the summer of 2017. The students, who were working on a Capstone Project by partnering with the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, talked to a group of disabled veterans about what they would like to use these devices for. 

One veteran said he wanted to garden again. Others said they would like devices to aid in using eating utensils, shaving, and turning pages of physical books and e-books. 

The students used a 3D printer to make these assistive devices, which makes them easy to customize and for far less money than with traditional manufacturing methods. 

The instructor of the course, Maciej G. Zborowski, said he wanted his students to be able to apply methods learned in class to actual issues. “It is one thing to assign a project that is just a figment of my imagination, but I figured that it would be more impactful to test the students using problems that actually existed out in the real world,” he said.

Additive manufacturing is a growing field, especially in the medical industry. Tri-C offers a one-year certificate in their 3D...

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For those interested, MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) will be holding a Facebook live stream for a tutorial on Scout and Navigator Safety Inspection, followed by a Q & A session. 

The tutorial and Q & A session is scheduled for Friday, Mar. 9 at 1pm PT and is hosted by Jill Zande and Matt Gardner.

Check out MATE's Facebook page for more information on the Q & A, or visit their website to learn more about the center.