Alabama Colleges for Engineering Technology Educational Advancements (ACETEA)

阿拉巴马州在自动化制造、工业工程、电信和电子领域的进步对该州的技术学院和社区学院提出了挑战。为了应对这一挑战，16所两年制大学与阿拉巴马州经济发展伙伴关系（EDPA）合作成立了阿拉巴马大学系统微电子联盟。EDPA是一个由67家领先的商业和工业公司组成的联盟，致力于支持该州的高质量经济增长。传统的工程、电子、电信和制造课程不足以让学生为未来的高性能工作场所做好准备。训练有素的工程技术人员的短缺影响了该州保持现有行业竞争力和吸引新行业进入该州的能力。社区和技术学院必须在消除训练有素的技术人员短缺方面发挥重要作用，以应对当前和未来的行业需求。然而，高级工程相关课程的成本限制了任何一所大学有效满足快速变化的工作场所需求的能力。ACETEA联盟（Alabama Colleges for Engineering Technology education advancement）是由两年制大学和整个阿拉巴马州的工程技术雇主共同发起的。该联合会的目的是在全州范围内为工程技术的传统和专门领域的技术人员提供准备（教育和培训）的办法。通过创新和灵活的策略，该联盟正在教育和培训新的、基于电子的、先进的工程技术领域的工作人员。这些领域包括机电自动化（机器人）、电子制造、仪器仪表/数据采集、航空航天电子、信息技术、网络（广域网和局域网）和计算机维护。ACETEA联盟正在开发先进的工程技术项目，这些项目从工程技术的共同核心课程开始。每所学院都提供两到五个先进的技术专业，以满足该州所在地区的工业需求。这种区域性方法导致了全州范围内当前科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）课程的升级；使学院能与产业一同成长，以满足未来高绩效工作场所的需要；为现有行业员工提供升级培训；在全国范围内加强中等、副学士和学士水平的工程技术教育；在课堂、实验室和工作场所培养新的教学方法；并吸引了许多学生参加工程技术项目，包括低收入、少数民族和其他未被充分代表的群体。

Advancements in the fields of automated manufacturing, industrial engineering, telecommunications, and electronics in the state of Alabama have placed a challenge on the state's technical and community colleges. To meet this challenge, 16 two-year colleges have formed the Alabama College System Microelectronics Consortium in partnership with the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA). EDPA is an alliance of 67 leading business and industry companies committed to supporting quality economic growth in the state. Traditional engineering, electronics, telecommunications and manufacturing programs are not adequate to prepare students for occupations in the high performance workplace of the future. The shortage of highly trained engineering technicians impacts the state's ability to keep its existing industries competitive and to attract new industry to the state. Community and technical colleges must play a major role in eliminating the shortage of highly trained technicians in response to current and future industry needs. However, the cost of advanced engineering-related programs limits the ability of any one college to effectively meet the demands of a rapidly changing workplace.The ACETEA Consortium (Alabama Colleges for Engineering Technology EducationalAdvancement) is a joint effort of two-year colleges and engineering technology employers from throughout Alabama. The Consortium's purpose is providing a statewide approach to the preparation (education and training) of technicians in both traditional and specialized fields of engineering technology. Through innovative and flexible strategies, the Consortium is educating and training the work force for new, electronic based, advanced engineering technology fields. These fields include electromechanical automation (robotics), electronic manufacturing, instrumentation/data acquisition, aerospace electronics, informational technology, networking (WAN & LAN), and computer maintenance. The ACETEA Consortium is developing advanced engineering technology programs that begin with a common core curriculum in engineering technology. Each college is offering two to five advanced technology specialties that match the needs of industry in its region of the state. This regional approach is resulting in a statewide upgrade of current science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum; enabling colleges to grow with industry and meet the future needs of the high performance workplace; providing upgrade training to current industry employees; strengthening engineering technology education throughout the state at the secondary, associate degree, and baccalaureate level; nurturing new teaching methodologies in the classroom, laboratory, and workplace; and attracting many students to engineering technology programs including low-income, minority and other underrepresented groups.