The National Science Foundation has announced a new program initiative for individuals in EPSCoR states in response to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The initiative, called EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Program: Bridging EPSCoR Communities (RII-BEC), seeks to bridge programs to facilitate the transitions of affected groups (e.g., women, underrepresented minorities, research trainees, and graduate fellows) from one stage of STEM training to the next.

The initiative will accept proposals that support those individuals most strongly affected by the pandemic at vulnerable career transition points. Proposals may include partnerships within and/or across two-year and four-year institutions (including community colleges).

The deadline for proposal submission is April 4, 2022 at 5:00 pm (local time). Interested proposers are encouraged to reach out to Andrea Johnson or Subrata Acharya with questions about proposal preparation and submission.

The Journal of Advanced Technological Education (J ATE) is a peer-reviewed journal for ATE projects and centers and community college faculty and staff who work in technician education. J ATE launched its inaugural issue on Jan 31, 2022.

This introductory issue features articles submitted, peer-reviewed, and published. One of the articles addresses autonomous technologies by Zackary Nicklin. Another highlight to enjoy reading features lessons learned in technician education during the COVID-19 pandemic, by Khalid H. Tantawi.

All articles published in the journal are under a Creative Commons license. Readers are encouraged to share articles and links. J ATE continues to welcome submissions to be published in upcoming issues.

The American Association of Community Colleges, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, is inviting community college students to participate in the 2022 Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC). In this national competition, teams of community college students work with a faculty or administrator mentor to use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to innovate solutions to real-world problems.

Members of the ATE community are encouraged to share this opportunity with their students and to serve as faculty mentors. Benefits of participation include full travel support to attend an Innovation Boot Camp in the Washington, DC, metro area, as well as cash awards.

Submissions are due March 30, 2022. Visit the CCIC page for more information and submission guidelines, or email CCIC@aacc.nche.edu for questions.

The Nanotechnology Applications and Career Knowledge Resource Center (NACK) is offering a series of four Implementing Nano Working Group (INWG) sessions designed to help participants cultivate ideas or implement readily available, nanotechnology-based resources, facilitated by experienced nanotechnology educators from across the country.

Sessions will begin after March 15, 2022. Exact dates and times will be determined once groups are defined. Participation is open to all, but U.S. high school and undergraduate institution educators with prior nanoknowledge experience are eligible for stipends.

Interested community members should submit their application by the deadline of March 1, 2022.

The Clemson University Center for Workforce Development has developed a four-track robotics digital learning package to deploy to partner institutions. Through Fall 2022, the center will be piloting robotics curricula for the high school, associate, bachelor, and master levels, including courseware in virtual reality simulations, video lectures, open text, and interactive assessments.

The center is looking for instructors to participate in a free pilot program using the curricula, to provide feedback on the courseware in the form of instructor and student survey responses. The first 25 instructors to register for the pilot program with 10 students or more will receive an honorarium.

There is no deadline to apply. Interested instructors should fill out the course access request form or contact the center for more information about the curricula.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded more than $30 million in research grants and project seed grants as part of the Future Manufacturing program. These awards are intended to promote U.S. competitiveness in transformational manufacturing, including biomanufacturing, cyber manufacturing, and eco manufacturing.

The research projects, which include four-year colleges and universities, community colleges, and corporations, will "investigate areas to transform the predictability, security, reliability and efficiency" of advanced manufacturing.

Read more about the awards and the grantees in this announcement from NSF.

Google announced recently that it would make its career certificates available for free to community colleges in the U.S. These certificates, which cover information technology, data analytics, project management, and user experience design, are intended to support workforce development of highly in-demand digital skills.

The certificates have been recommended by the American Council on Education as equivalent to 12 credits or 4 full courses at the undergraduate level. The state of Connecticut will offer for-credit courses using Google's IT Support Certification for the Spring 2022 semester.

Read more about the announcement in this article from CNBC.

Microsoft recently announced an initiative to support cybersecurity workforce training at community colleges across the country. The software company will reportedly provide scholarships or other financial assistance to 25,000 students over the next 4 years and support instructor professional development at 150 community colleges, in addition to free curriculum materials.

The efforts come in the wake of recent high profile cybersecurity breaches, such as the SolarWinds attack, that have alarmed policymakers and companies.

Read more about the announcement in this article from Reuters.