Florida's Regional Center for Manufaucturing Education (FLATE)

Hillsborough Community College, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

The NSF Florida Advanced Technological Education (FLATE) Center is a state wide ATE Regional Center for Manufacturing Education. Goals for the 3 year renewal period are to (a) identify and secure state and/or other funds for operations; (b) implement a statewide unified education system that positions manufacturing education as a convergent curriculum to optimize technician preparation in manufacturing and its enabling technologies; (c) provide an effective outreach platform for Florida's high schools, community colleges, industry, and legislature to access information related to the requirements for and impact of manufacturing education; and, (d) present professional development opportunities for technical faculty to develop, refine, or certify their knowledge base within manufacturing and/or its related enabling technologies and educational pedagogies. Intellectual Merit: Outreach projects are having a systemic impact on manufacturing and its enabling technology education by merging educational content into the "Made in Florida" awareness campaign and connecting classroom activities directly with instructional visits to actual manufacturing facilities. Curriculum projects have a systemic impact on manufacturing education by implementing an articulation pathway that allows high school students to transfer 15 credit hours toward the A.S. Degree. They provide clear statewide defined skill sets as a reference for prospective students of the expectations of prospective employers. The curriculum aligns manufacturing and engineering technology degrees to the changing needs of industry and provides a viable statewide mechanism for industry feedback on the impact of A.S. degrees. FLATE is also providing professional development opportunities for faculty responsible for manufacturing education in secondary, post secondary, and community college environments; integrating Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC) skills into high school and community college curriculum; and increasing the statewide impact of the Florida Technology Forum by providing industry focused short courses for technology faculty. Broader Impact: FLATE is poised to demonstrate transportable models that (1) help Florida's Department of Education filter its total set of technical course, certificate, and degree program frameworks; (2) encourage first time college and minority students to continue post secondary education by streamlining student access to manufacturing and related degrees; (3) institutionalize a platform for best practice curriculum dissemination; (4) increase the number of teachers and students that are MSSC nationally certified; (5) increase the awareness in all parts of the state that manufacturing careers represent a critical need in Florida; (6) establish a statewide collaborative "manufacturing community" that partners industry, government, and academic entities; (7) provide the public with easy access to technical education information to support new Florida mandated career exploration middle school curriculum component; (8) increase the number of faculty that can integrate the teaching of industry mandated soft skills into their current curriculum; (9) align Florida's manufacturing related technical degrees to industries' changing needs; (10) demonstrate an effective curriculum management plan for Florida's other AS/AAS degrees; (11) support projects that multiple industry partners can financially support because they are recognized as industry-focused mutually beneficial activities; (12) partner industry directly with educational institutions in their region; and (13) make manufacturers statewide aware of the benefits of interacting with students during "Made in Florida" supported factory tours.